


closer to the edge

by scriveyner (trismegistus)



Series: Voltron Fic Collection [32]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Big Bang Challenge, F/M, Foursome - F/M/M/M, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Omega Verse, Partner Swapping, Shameless Smut, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 21:58:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17312585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trismegistus/pseuds/scriveyner
Summary: It had been six months now they were together. Six glorious months, and Lance was as happy as one could be. He was caught in the middle of an intergalactic civil war and they lived under the constant threat of capture or death, but, hey, he found himself a mate and they had fantastic, mind-blowing sex on the regular and oh yeah he was just about the best person Lance had ever met in his life and he was freaking head over heels in love with him.What more could he want?VLD NSFW Big Bang 2018





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All artwork provided by the lovely @StickyPeppers on twitter as part of the VLD NSFW Big Bang 2018!

Lance woke up because his nose itched.

Irritated, he rubbed at his nose blearily and shifted slightly in the bed; an action that made Shiro mutter sleepily and curl around him, his arm tightening protectively over Lance’s chest. Lance yawned and smiled drowsily, as content as he could ever be safe in the arms of his mate - and he was just drifting off to sleep again when the itch returned with a vengeance. He grumbled and scrubbed at his nose with the palm of his hand, displacing the eye mask he wore to block out the dim teal running lights they couldn’t shut off, and that invasion of illumination successfully roused him enough he knew he wasn’t going back to sleep.

It was difficult to slither out from under Shiro’s arm. Lance had never thought of Shiro as a _cuddler_  until he started sharing a bed with him. He was absolutely not in any way complaining about it though, but Shiro was probably twice as thick as Lance and that was all muscle. If he wasn’t careful sometimes when trying to wiggle out of Shiro’s embrace it could lead to a sleepy fight-or-flight reaction from Shiro and, holy hell, Shiro’s _left_  hook resulted in a small indent in the wall above their heads.

It had devastated Shiro that he nearly took Lance’s head off in his sleep, however, Lance was more concerned if Shiro had broken his fucking hand or not.

At this point Lance had perfected a slide that allowed him to reach the small shelf inset into the wall above their heads and locate his phone to check the time. It was _early_ , though not so ungodly early it would be unheard of to be out of bed and about, but ... his beauty sleep. Lance sighed because he knew getting back to sleep was a pipe dream at this point and instead took the time to wiggle the rest of the way out of Shiro’s arms, slipping out of their shared room and toward the head.

It had been six months now they were together. Six glorious months, and Lance was as happy as one could be. He was caught in the middle of an intergalactic civil war and they lived under the constant threat of capture or death, but, hey, he found himself a mate and they had fantastic, mind-blowing sex on the regular and oh yeah he was just about the best person Lance had ever met in his life and he was freaking head over heels in love with him. Lance smiled sleepily as he relieved himself. One of his favorite things to do now was to imagine bringing Shiro home to his family and introducing them all. His mother would insist on a traditional wedding, he was certain, and Lance was firmly in her camp on the matter.

The thought of Shiro in a white tailored tuxedo with a purple waistcoat was making his smile turn dangerously sappy when Lance realized that he was rubbing his nose again and stopped mid-train of thought. He lowered his hand and looked at it, and then carefully inhaled. He wasn’t congested, or felt vaguely sneeze-y, so there was no reason at all for his nose to be itching like this.

In fact, the only thing that made his nose itch like that was Shiro’s heats. He wasn’t _on_  his heat right now, his heat was regular enough they both had a good idea of when it would hit and could plan accordingly. So if it wasn’t Shiro’s heat that was bothering, that meant ...

... _Keith._

Lance stood in the gleaming white communal bathroom and stared at the tile above the facilities, trying to reconcile the thought. He knew now that Keith was an omega of course, but that information had hardly been relevant to his life once he claimed Shiro. Keith’s heats hadn’t bothered him at _all_ , presumably _because_  he and Shiro were now a mated pair, but he really had no idea how any of this worked. He hadn’t paid  _that_  much attention in his anatomy courses.

In fact, outside of Shiro’s heat before they’d mated, he’d never scented another omega’s heat before. So, this was new and unusual and potentially alarming. Now that he had identified the source, the itch lessened, and he could _smell_  that it was Keith, faint and thready but potent enough to draw him through the halls of the Castleship until Lance stood outside Keith’s quarters at _way_  too fucking early for this o’clock.

Keith was with Allura now, and Lance was fairly certain that they had kept their relationship a secret from just him, specifically. Now that Lance was officially with Shiro though, no one seemed to care about keeping any relationships under wraps. It was nice to have it all out in the open, but man was it _weird_  to see them together. Especially because if he didn’t already know they were a couple, he didn’t think he’d be able to tell - other than the fact that Keith occasionally stood closer to Allura than normal.

So. What exactly was his plan, here? Knock on the door and see who was in what state of undressed and tell Keith to, _what_ , get his shit together and not be in heat? He couldn’t help that. Maybe Pidge’s slapdash suppressants had failed, or he’d simply run out and she hadn’t had a chance to make more. Lance sighed and folded his arms, looking up and down the hallway while trying to decide on the best course of action. Finally, he turned and walked away from Keith’s door. It was really none of his business after all.

Since he was up, Lance instead headed for the galley. If he returned to his room he ran the risk of waking Shiro, and the man pushed himself too much as it was. There was a fairly decent chance that Hunk would already be up and starting on breakfast, and if he was then Lance could help him out. His path to the kitchen took him right past one of the entrances to the training deck and oh _boy_  that was like walking directly into a wall of solid pheromones. Lance stopped dead in his tracks, almost blinded by the thick, heady scent of needy omega, before comically turning and marching toward the door.

When the doors slid apart the scent got even thicker, a fact that Lance would have never guessed possible, and based on the sheer amount of need he was expecting maybe a full-on omega orgy but instead was greeted with Keith, stripped naked to the waist and his bayard in hand as he fought six gladiator bots.

He'd clearly been at this for some time as his sweat and musk was thick in the air and slick on his skin, and Lance watched slightly mesmerized as Keith didn't stop or slow down, dancing between the gladiator bots with ease. When he felled them, they shut down in acknowledgement of the critical hits before rebooting and rising to begin the training session anew.

Lance watched Keith whittle his opponents down from six to one, only to watch them rise again and again. Keith could shut off the training program at any time he wanted so he was clearly and deliberately exhausting himself. And, god help him, he was fucking _hot_  while doing so.

Keith slid around a gladiator bot with deceptive grace, taking it down with practiced ease and, when he turned he caught sight of Lance leaning in the open doorway, watching him. This caused a minute hesitation which ended up costing him as a gladiator bot rounded on him, catching Keith with the blunt end of its staff. Lance started to move forward on pure instinct, hand held out for his own bayard to manifest before he remembered, duh, he was still in his pajamas and the closest thing he had to an offensive weapon was a pair of fuzzy Blue Lion slippers.

It was better than nothing. Lance threw one at the gladiator bot advancing on Keith's six.

The slipper slapped loudly into the side of the gladiator bot's head with all the effectiveness of a wet paper towel. The erstwhile projectile weapon flopped harmlessly to the floor, and both the gladiator bot and Keith stopped and stared at Lance, who shrugged.

Keith, however, took advantage of the momentary pause in the gladiator bot's processing - trying to determine if Lance was to be included in the training regiment, no doubt - and disabled the gladiator bot by putting the bayard's sword straight through its neck. Standing amid the disabled training bots Keith ordered the simulation to end, chest heaving.

Lance padded over to retrieve his slipper but Keith beat him to it, picking it up and holding it, turning a not-entirely-pleased expression on Lance. "What," Keith said, the bare adrenaline making his voice ragged, "the _hell_ , Lance."

"You needed someone on your six," Lance said. "I distracted it." He folded his arms and jutted his chin out. "It's not my fault you got overwhelmed when I peeked my head in to see what all the racket was. Gimme my slipper back."

"Okay, _first_  of all," Keith said, holding up one finger on the hand that was holding Lance's slipper hostage, "I wasn't distracted by you. Let's get that straight."

"You weren't distracted," Lance said, eyebrow arched and in complete disbelief.

"I wasn't distracted," Keith repeated firmly.

"Well in that case it's even worse than I thought, because you were getting your butt _whooped_  by gladiator bots," Lance said, and noted with satisfaction how Keith bristled.

" _Second_ ," Keith said through clenched teeth, "I don't want to see you near me at _all_  right now, so. Go. _Away._ "

Lance blinked once, slowly. He could almost _see_  the stink rising off Keith, potent and furious and _so_  needy. It was, frankly, ridiculous. "Your heat smells way different than Shiro's this time," he said. "What's going on?"

He wasn't sure what Keith was expecting him to say in response to the 'go away' but that clearly wasn't on the list. Keith stared at him and then, unexpectedly blushed. It was more pink than the heady flush that exertion gave him, and Keith looked away, anger making his flush go dark. Without a word, he thrust Lance's slipper out, holding it in front of himself and waving it slightly, intending for Lance to take it and, as he said, go away.

Lance was not going to go away. No way, no how. He and Keith had, at some point in the preceding year, come to accords in that they were what might generously be called friends, even if on some level Lance still felt like he was competing with Keith.

While needling Keith was wonderfully cathartic, if there was actually something wrong it needed to be addressed. "Look, man, are you okay?" he said. "This is the first time I could smell your heat from clear across the castle, maybe you oughta, I dunno, get some canoodling time in with Allura or something."

It was always an accomplishment to make Keith blush and he was two for two already - this time, though, the colors he turned were both amazing and completely unexpected. His flush started to go so dark it was almost purple, around his temples and back into his hair. "Allura can't help with this," he muttered, finally. "Just, leave me alone, Lance. Please."

Lance was paying less attention to the words and more to the now-vivid violet that ran across Keith's skin. Keith immediately recognized the scrutiny and turned, Lance's slipper still in hand, and folded his arms tight to himself as if that would protect him from Lance's gaze. "Forget it," Keith muttered, as the purple faded off his skin and Lance suddenly put three and five together.

"Is this a Galra thing?" he asked, and Keith _flinched._

Keith didn't always like to acknowledge his Galra heritage. They were all acutely aware of Allura's initial reaction to the news - and while she had come around, in time, recognizing that Keith had no control over the origin of his blood or the nature of his birth - it had still been an uncomfortable time between. Now they had shacked up. Lance could only imagine the conversations that happened behind closed doors.

"No," Keith said hotly, still turned away from Lance. He held his shoulders tight and straight for a long moment before relaxing them, finally. "Yes," he said, sounding defeated. "My heat's weird. It's different this time. The suppressants aren't working, and Pidge can't figure out why."

"That's ... weird," Lance said.

"Yeah." Keith looked away. "Pidge said she was gonna work on it when she and Allura got back."

Lance stared at Keith. "You let Allura and Pidge go off alone?" Lance said, alarmed and already making planes to rouse Shiro.

"They're fine," Keith said. "Pidge just needed to pick up some extra parts for her project, and Coran had a list of shit he needed from the Space Mall so Allura volunteered to go with her. That's all." Keith stared at Lance, and Lance knew that Keith knew that Pidge was definitely up to something, so whatever reason he had for letting the two of them fuck off on their own he wasn't going to share willingly. After a long moment of this silent stare-off, he looked away again and flushed, hard. "I don't think Allura wants to be around me while I'm like this," he said finally, the anger and hurt heavy in his voice.

Oh, _no_.

Lance was halfway to the door on autopilot, his brain already three jumps ahead and somewhere into how, exactly, he was going to explain to Shiro that he was dead because he got into a yelling match with Allura and she broke his neck, when Keith caught him by the arm and yanked back and _ow_ , he had quite a grip. "Lance!" Keith said, strangled. "Don't, you'll only make things worse..."

His voice trailed off because he clearly wasn't sure what else he was going to say to Lance, which was fine because Lance was staring at him and, more accurately, staring at Keith's hand on Lance's arm and feeling the pinpricks of strange energy at the connection between them. "It's okay," Keith said finally, but he didn't let go of Lance's arm. "I mean, I appreciate it but I _get_  it, I wouldn't want to be around me while I'm like this either..."

"That is _bullshit_ ," Lance said, hissing through his teeth. And, okay, maybe he had ignored the way that omegas were treated on Earth because it didn't affect him, thinking that he was a beta all his life, but being around Shiro and now _knowing..._  and as much as he hated to admit it he did actually count Keith as a friend, and _anyone_  treating him any different because of his endotype was about to meet the business end of Lance's bayard. "I can't believe she'd treat you like that because you're an omega and you go into heat."

"It's not ... it's not _just_  that," Keith said. "It's fine, we're fine." He looked away again, and then realized that Lance wasn't about to just let this go, especially when he was hanging onto Lance's arm like he was. "It's just, the whole..." he released Lance's arm finally, to wave his hand in the air demonstratively. Lance knew what he meant. "I mean, we've talked about it plenty and she..." he turned red again, a brilliant, scorching red, "she _likes_  the whole heat thing, it's the Galra thing she's not a fan of."

"Well, fuck her," Lance said. "That's a part of you and she liked you _plenty_  as a person before she knew where half ... or LESS! You don't look Galra at all so it could be even LESS than half your genes-"

Keith groaned very loudly but it didn't interrupt Lance's tirade; though he did pause, trailing off in confusion when Keith stuck his bayard in his teeth and grabbed the waistline of his pants with both hands and yanked down.

Okay, _that_  stopped Lance's brain dead in its tracks, his gaze fixed tight on the space between Keith's legs.

They had been on this ship for nearly a year now, and the showers weren’t divided by gender. Pidge had absolutely zero qualms about walking into the midst of them congregating buck naked in the locker room after their showers, which inevitably led to clearing the room in near-record times. But he had definitely seen Keith's bits before, and while he hadn’t checked out the package deal (that was _gay,_ and he could hear Shiro and Hunk rolling their eyes from here), he did have a general idea of who had what dangly bits.

That being said, Lance would have _noticed_  the fact that Keith's bits were this ... different.

His cock was soft, and even so Lance could clearly see how much thicker it was, and how pronounced the alien ridges were that started halfway down his shaft. _That_  was all very different of course, but that was also discounting the fact that his dick was very, unmistakably, _purple_.

"...what the _fuck_ ," Lance said, his voice escaping in a squeak.

"Yeah," Keith said, bayard still held in his teeth. "Tell me about it."

 

#

 

"When did this _happen_?" Lance asked, seated on the edge of Keith's bed in the most dangerous territory of Keith's room. The entire enclosed area stank of him and his heat, but Lance was _mated_ , and his scent shouldn't affect him like it was. Still, it made it difficult for him to focus, but Keith was in distress and needed him to be present, so he focused. "And, why did you have to - fucking - drop trou and give me the whole show? I could have lived the rest of my life without having that seared into my brain, dude."

He watched as Keith pulled on a clean shirt that was probably just a hair too tight and thought idly to himself that Keith had filled out more since they had arrived at the Castleship; there was more definition to his back and shoulders now. And he was staring, so Lance dragged his mind back on track and back where it was supposed to be. "Did you show _Shiro?_  I bet he feels left out." Keith's shoulders went taut, but Lance had already blown right past and kept going. "I mean, I can't believe an alien dumped you for having an alien dick. Is that racist? That feels racist."

"Allura didn't dump me," Keith said, deciding apparently that the last thing was the least complex thing for him to handle. "We're just..." He shrugged loosely and sighed again, and Lance realized this explained the strange funk that had descended on the ship over the last few days. He was just too busy planning his yet un-discussed fantasy romantic beach wedding to actually notice where all the Mood was coming from. "Waiting to see what happens with it, I guess."

"How long have you been on this Galra heat?" Lance put his hands on his knees. "Because, you know, today it woke me out of a _sound sleep._ "

Keith snorted "A couple days, maybe," he said, and had the wherewithal to at least look a little sheepish. "Probably all the hormones in the air from me getting riled up, sorry." His flush had almost faded by now, although there was a faint rose tint to his features that may have just been a manifestation of his heat. Lance couldn't remember the last heat he had seen Keith in, so he didn't know what the baseline was. Keith kept that shit on _lock._  "I can't believe it woke you, though."

"I know," Lance said, and the irritation crept into his voice despite himself. "I'm mated, your heats shouldn't affect me at all." There was no mistaking the flinch when he said that, and Lance scowled. "You know, you had your chance to be pissed off about Shiro's choice already," he said, and Keith looked away, his mouth closed into a thin, tight line.

"It's not about his choice," he said.

"Yeah, I know your opinion of me," Lance folded his arms. This was an argument he had built up in his head so many times and in so many different ways since Shiro first showed Keith his claim mark, but he'd never had a chance to have it before now. As in all things, however, it was turning out slightly different than he'd anticipated.

"It's not about you at all," Keith snapped. "I just don't think it's a good idea for Shiro to be bonded that quickly, okay? He's da-" Keith abruptly shut his mouth, cutting himself off and glaring at the floor instead of at Lance.

"What? What were you going to say, Keith, he's damaged goods or something?" Lance was _angry._ Angrier than he'd been at hearing about how Allura effectively dumped Keith for something entirely out of his control. "I'm giving you exactly three seconds to try to change my mind about tearing your throat out for insulting my mate to my face."

"Calm down," Keith said tersely. "That's not at all what I meant and you know it." He kept his distance from Lance though, keeping his back to the wall. "His family fucked him up good, he told you about that at least, right?"

Shiro had. In little bits and pieces, small nuggets of information scattered across days, weeks, _months -_ to the point where it had taken a little while for Lance to put together the extent of it. If they ever did get back to Earth, there was a long list of people who were Not Invited To The Wedding, and once he relayed the tale to _his_  family there was going to be an entire branch just waiting for someone on the list to show up so they could dole out Immediate Justice.

Shiro had laughed when Lance told him of his plans, brushing Lance's hair back and kissing his forehead and telling him that Lance was all the family he ever needed, and he just wanted to let the past stay buried.

Lance, on the other hand, liked the idea of hitting those people a little _too_  much. Man, the testosterone boost from his presentation had really screwed with him more than he liked to admit. "I have a _long_  list of people who are meeting with sticky ends if we ever cross paths, if that's what you're getting at," he said, and Keith blinked at him and then, surprisingly, smiled.

"You realize that doesn't sound anything at all like a threat coming from you, right? You're not intimidating at all."

"Go on, keep laying out my shortcomings, Keith. I'll wait. You have a purple alien dick, I think I'll live."

They glared at each other for a moment longer, but then it was Keith who sighed and broke the tension. "I've known Shiro for a very long time," he said. "I just worry about him, okay? It's not you, Lance, I can promise you. I can't think of anyone else I know that can bring him peace the way you do."

Lance's mouth snapped shut before the asshole remark he had prepared could escape, and he stared at Keith, completely dumbfounded. "Was that ... was that a _genuine_  compliment?" Lance said, stunned. "Did you just, are you saying that you approve of our relationship?"

"Can we just drop it?" Keith asked, and Lance's dumbfounded expression shifted immediately into glee.

"Well then," he said, drawing his knees together and resting his palms on them. "Guess I will have to invite you to the wedding after all."

"Wonderful," Keith muttered dryly.

In the time that they had been talking together, there had been a noticeable shift in Keith's scent. It had gone from the thick, musky scent that had completely distracted Lance to something softer, subtler ... and definitely more enticing. Lance had categorized the scent of his heat and had been rather blatantly ignoring it, but the way it was fluctuating now drew his attention back to it and his brow furrowed. "Anything else weird about this heat?" he asked as casually as he could get away with, and Keith shook his head negatively.

"You mean aside from my purple alien dick?"

"Nothing _else_  has turned purple, right? No ears or tail or mane growing in, you haven't developed fangs or claws..."

Keith looked thoughtful. "Have you ever seen a Galra with a mane?"

"Well, no," Lance said, "but some of them are kinda scaly and look like turtles that crawled out of the primeval ooze and others are furry and look like someone got too intimate with bat and really, the only unifying trait is that everyone is _purple_. So. I don't know, maybe there are some Galra out there sporting glorious L'Oreal manes and we just haven't run across them yet. You don't know."

Keith was still smiling softly, fondly, and it was starting to wig Lance out just a little bit. "Lance, thanks for taking my mind off things," he said. Lance tilted his head.

"God, there _is_  something weird going on with you," he said. "Gratitude? Approval? Who are you and what have you done with Keith?" There was another shift in his scent and this time Lance couldn't pin down the difference, just that it _was_  different. This was completely frustrating, and Lance felt a strange pull in his chest, he wanted to get up and touch Keith and oh, let's pack _that_  thought away for a hot minute because _holy shit._  "We need to get Allura on the same page," he said, desperate to try to distract himself. "See if she can't shape-shift a magic Altean dick to keep you satisfied during your heat, Galra or no Galra."

Keith didn't respond to that and Lance squinted at him. He was staring at Lance, a strange expression caught on his face - and after a moment Lance _recognized_  it. He had seen that exact same expression before - on Shiro, when he was sprawled out on a bed and begging to be claimed by Lance. It was utterly disconcerting and _wrong_  for Keith to be wearing that same expression, and Lance waved his hand in the air, hoping to dispel whatever it was that was affecting Keith. "Keith," Lance said carefully, because alpha or not Keith _did_ have muscle on him and he didn't actually _want_  a fight.

Lance's voice did something, because Keith shook his head sharply, and his expression returned to normal. "Sorry," Keith said, and Lance stood, his hands curled into white-knuckled fists.

"I should go."

Keith didn't say anything else or make a move to stop him, as he left.

 

#

 

They'd never had cause to talk about others.

It wasn't a discussion that Lance even knew how to _have._  He wasn't interested in other people, not like he had been before. Sure, he still flirted with quite a few of the aliens on planets that Voltron had liberated; but it was a harmless flirtation, he didn't intend for it to go anywhere and Shiro knew that (although he still occasionally smacked Lance in the shoulder when Lance was laying it on particularly thick). Shiro wore his claim mark proudly, the skin having grown hard and dark over the impression of Lance's teeth. So it wasn't really something he'd considered, especially not in regards to his own rival turned arch-nemesis turned friend…ish. He absolutely was _not_  interested in Keith like that, no how no way.

Except...

Now he kept thinking about Keith's eyes, and the hungry emptiness in them, clearly just waiting for an alpha to claim him like Shiro had been. Lance had teased Keith and Allura about their relationship, but it seemed plainly obvious now that it must be more traditional than Lance expected. That meant that while Keith was having a great time nailing the last princess of Altea he was also missing out deeply on getting thoroughly fucked and wrecked in the way only omegas could.

Shiro was awake by the time Lance returned to their room, sitting up cross-legged in the bed and with one of the Castleship's datapads in his hand, displaying holographic teal text. "Good morning," Shiro said, lifting his attention from whatever report he was perusing to greet Lance. Lance stood just inside the door and smiled at Shiro, feeling instantly at ease, and like everything made sense again. Without prompting, he crawled back into bed beside him, leaning against Shiro's left side and glancing at the projected text with disinterest. Shiro looped his left arm over Lance's shoulders and pulled him close, nuzzling his face against the side of Lance's head and immediately sensing his turmoil. "What's wrong?"

"Something's up with Keith," Lance said, and closed his eyes. Shiro's warmth was familiar and comforting, and it was orienting his priorities in the right direction. This was his _mate_ , his omega, the single fixed point that his entire galaxy revolved around.

And yet, he still struggled how to communicate to Shiro when things were bothering him, because he felt like he was the alpha and it was his responsibility to have his shit figured out by now.

"What kind of something?" Shiro didn't sound as concerned as Lance thought he would, so he put one hand on Shiro's side and pushed him slightly, so that he could actually look at him. At least he didn't start out with ' _what did you do?'_  because that would have actually made Lance angry.

"I think he's having problems with Allura," Lance opened with, because it wasn't entirely a lie. "He looked really out of sorts, he'd been in the training room all morning when I peeked in."

Shiro looked up and then tapped the datapad, which changed the text from a readout of ship functions to the ship's internal chronometer. It was still early, by the ship's log. " _All_  morning?" Shiro said dryly.

Shiro was being a pedantic little shit today. "I don't think he slept," Lance clarified.

Okay, that definitely rated higher on Shiro's concern scale. Shiro cared very deeply for Keith, and they had a close bond that Lance once mistook for an actual romantic relationship, so Shiro knew Keith's quirks inside and out ... and that he knew precisely what it meant when Keith chose training over sleep. He tapped the corner of his datapad against his knee as he considered this new information. "So what did he tell you?"

"It's his heat," Lance said, and felt weird about being the one to tell this to Shiro, like he was betraying Keith's trust. Keith never specifically said not to tell Shiro, and they'd been in cahoots about their heats legitimately since before Lance presented as alpha, so he didn't know why he felt so worried. "It's different this time, and he thinks it has something to do with his Galra blood." His nose itched again, faint and shameful, but Lance rubbed it anyway and Shiro didn't notice. "I can smell him."

Shiro grew quiet and gave Lance a concerned look. "Are you scenting him?"

Scenting was an act that alphas did with omegas that they potentially wanted to mate. It was not a _complex_  process, and in and of itself  wasn't sexual, but ... it tended to lead to _things._  Lance knew that much at least, although he had never scented anyone aside from Shiro that he was aware of. He shook his head, slowly at first and then decisively. "I've never scented anyone," he said hotly, and still snuggled tight against Shiro's side. "Except you, of course."

When Shiro didn't respond, his head tilted forward so that Lance couldn't see his eyes, Lance leaned in close and put his hands on Shiro's jaw, turning his face to Lance. "I don't want to scent Keith anyway, Shiro, I love _you <_. You're _my_  mate."

Shiro stared at him quietly, and there was something mournful in his eyes that Lance didn't understand. But he smiled, even if the smile spread slowly, and brushed his hand back through Lance's hair, drawing their faces in close. Shiro kissed so, _so_  aggressively; even in his soft, passionate kisses and Lance loved it. He loved how Shiro dominated their interactions and even during his heats Shiro often, technically, topped. He did not give up himself or control lightly, and he _rarely_  acted like the needy omegas in the porn they used to stream back at the Garrison - he was still _Shiro,_ even if he wanted to fuck himself out on Lance's cock and get knotted.

"I love you too," Shiro murmured, pushing Lance back into the bed and kissing him again. " _My_  alpha."

 

#

 

It was unusual that the galley would still be empty when Lance chose to wander back in that direction after his shower. He was surprised that Hunk wasn't cooking breakfast, but after scrounging for some of the crisp, hard cakes that tasted like oatmeal Lance headed back in the direction of the pilot's quarters to look for his best friend. The biggest of the Altean mice - Platt, Lance had overheard Coran calling it - rode on his shoulder and helped Lance eat his breakfast. When he arrived at the door to Hunk's room Platt scampered off, carrying the last few bites of the flat cake triumphantly in its mouth.

Hunk didn't answer his door when Lance knocked, so he popped the control panel and punched in the override code Pidge had programmed into the system that he wasn't supposed to know about. "Coming in," he announced, as the door whooshed open to reveal Hunk's very empty room. "…huh," Lance said, his hands on his hips and glancing around at the clutter. "Where’d you go, big guy?"

His next stop was the bridge. By this time of the morning he could find either Coran or Allura at the helm of the Castleship, doing the daily flight logs and making course corrections as they puttered around the outer edge of a solar system and hopefully well under the Empire's radar for the time being. Coran was there, as Lance expected, given that Allura had apparently fucked off on a resupply mission. "Good morning, Paladin!" Coran said, cheerful and chipper as ever and Lance acknowledged him as he glanced around the bridge.

"Mornin', Coran," he said and yawned despite himself. He'd been up early, true, but Shiro was _very_  demanding and by now Lance's energy reserves were a little low. "You seen Hunk anywhere?"

"Hunk accompanied the Princess and Pidge on their mission to resupply," Coran said, matter-of-fact as always. "I can open a communications channel if you wish to speak with them! They should be back in a few quintants, according to the Princess."

"Shiro's gonna flip when he finds out everyone fucked off on a multi-day mall-crawl," Lance said, amused.

"He's going to flip what?" Coran asked, distracted.

"His stack," Lance clarified, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket and rocking on his feet. He squinted up at the viewscreen, which was set on just the trajectory display, the tracking lines centered on the infinite empty vastness of space, and managed to miss entirely the strange look Coran gave him.

"What stack is he flipping, does he require assistance? I have the flight logs to complete and then the teludav needs some required maintenance before we wormhole again-"

"What? No," Lance shook his head, drawn back into the conversation. "No, Coran, it's just an expression. "Flipping his stack is like, uh," he tried to remember which particular bits of vernacular they'd introduced Coran to, and was coming up empty. "Like 'go off,' I guess."

"Oh," Coran snapped his fingers. "Like glibbering the mombers!"

Sometimes Lance was certain that Coran just slammed syllables together to mock them. "Um, sure, I guess."

So Allura, Hunk and Pidge were all gone, for the moment. Lance smirked a little mindlessly, that meant he had a little extra time with Shiro for the next few days, providing that Shiro didn't drag both him and Keith into the training deck by their scruffs for extra practice. That would be an event, _especially_  given the way that Keith smelled, currently.

He wondered offhand if Shiro could smell any of an omega's scent during heat, and resolved to ask him when it wasn't such an emotional knee jerk. He rubbed his nose idly again, realized that the itch had returned, and _groaned._

Coran's ear flicked in subtle irritation, and Lance knew that he'd overstayed his welcome on the bridge for the moment.

"Have you seen Keith at all?" Lance said as casually as he could manage. "He was monopolizing the training deck this morning, but I haven't seen him since."

He could just track Keith's scent throughout the Castleship, but why do that when you had an Altean majordomo with access to all the Castleship's internal security cameras? "Ah, yes!" Coran turned his attention back to the helm. After a few moments of fiddling, he nodded his head with vigor. "I do believe that Keith is with the Red Lion, currently." He turned to look back at Lance, and Lance raised his hand in acknowledgement, as he was already heading for the main doors off the bridge.

"Thanks Coran, I appreciate it!"

"Hm," Coran said, as the doors closed behind Lance.

 

#

 

Well, _this_  was a bad idea.

Lance stood outside the doors to the Red Lion's flight deck. He should really leave well enough alone - but after Coran had told him where he could find Keith it was as if a magnet had been attached somewhere behind his ribs and drew him straightaway to the hallway outside of the launch bay. He hadn't been overwhelmed by the scent of Keith's heat, so he had stashed himself somewhere away that Lance couldn't easily be affected unless he sought Keith out, and that was considerate of him.

It was also bullshit. Keith shouldn't even have to do that in the first place.

He stepped forward into the view of the sensors, and the bay doors split open and hissed aside. For the first time since his rinse-off shower he could smell Keith again. It wasn't as strong this time - not like earlier where he was nearly bowled over by the scent of him - but it was still heavy in the air, pungent and thready, proof of nothing else if not his existence.

The Red Lion's flight bay wasn't empty. Pidge wasn't the only one to make use of the additional space, having created what amounted to a computer lab in the offshoot alcove in the bay; but Keith on the other hand had turned his area into something of a mechanic's garage. He was putting together a small scout craft out of spare parts - they had found the chassis of a speeder at market in a bazaar and - thanks to Coran's utterly bizarre but apparently insane bartering skills - they walked away with both the supplies they were looking for and Keith's new project speeder.

The speeder in question sat on framework, propped up so that Keith could get under it easily enough and not have to worry about it shifting and falling over, crushing him. Both of Keith's legs were sticking out from under the chassis, and that was all Lance could see of him. He was no engineer, not like Hunk or even Pidge, but he had an eye for details and he knew how to be his own mechanic, and that was enough for Keith.

Lance walked over to him, hands still jammed in the pockets of his jacket, and waited for acknowledgement. When it didn't come, he kicked Keith's boot in irritation, and listened to the clatter of a dropped tool and Keith's creative curses. "Hey," Lance said, intentionally obnoxious, when Keith rolled himself out from under the speeder.

" _What_ , Lance?" Keith was still sweaty, although the dirt and the grease he had accumulated since they'd parted ways apparently helped tamp down his scent.

"You were ignoring me," Lance said. "So I kicked your boot."

"Yeah, no _shit_." Keith sat up on his roller, and dragged the back of his hand over his cheek, smearing grease. "What do you want?"

"Hunk went with Allura and Pidge," Lance said. He rocked on his feet, head cocked. "Have you not _slept?_ "

Keith's gaze was level, and silent. He'd gone right back to being annoyed at Lance after their semi-productive talk, and that would not do. After a long stretch of silence he looked away from Lance, and then down at the spanner he was still holding, considering it. "I can't sleep while I'm like this," he said finally, and glanced back at the speeder.

"... _can't_  sleep?" Lance repeated, agog. "Or just ... won't?"

"Can't." Keith let out a harried sigh. "I just, I don't know. I stare up at the ceiling and smell you and Shiro fucking two rooms over and I can't focus on anything at all, least of all rest." He was still staring distractedly at the speeder, and didn't seem to realize exactly what he was saying. Lance turned a faint but obvious shade of pink. "And even if I can't smell you, or Allura, or _anyone_ , it's like..." he shook his head and finally raised his gaze to Lance, and took in the flustered expression on Lance's features. He frowned, clearly trying to figure that one out.

"You can smell us fucking," Lance said, and it wasn't a question.

The look of horror on Keith's face would be hilarious in other circumstances. "I didn't say that."

"You _literally_  just said exactly that."

Keith put his elbow on his knee and his hand on his face, and repeated it like it would erase the previous conversation.. "I didn't say _that._ "

"Keith," Lance squatted, not to get on Keith's level but just so that he wasn't looking _down_  on Keith any longer. "Have you ... has this been going on the entire time? Have you told _Shiro?_  Holy shit."

"No! No, don't tell Shiro." Keith dropped the spanner and put both hands on his head this time, pushing his fingers back into his hair. "Don't tell him anything, okay? I don't want _you_  to know this either but I can't seem to stop talking around you and it's freaking me out." There was a sudden, pregnant pause. Keith raised his head, eyes narrowed. "Is this an alpha thing?"

"What?" Lance shook his head, going from squatting to sitting, butt on the floor. "Nope." At Keith's disbelieving stare, he shook his head vigorously. "No, it's definitely not an alpha thing, Shiro doesn't tell me shit. He keeps his secrets." He waved a hand in the air. "I can't compel you to tell me anything, Keith, though if you want to talk I'm definitely here to listen."

Keith gave him a strange look. "Like before?"

"Well, I'd prefer if you didn't flash your dick out of nowhere but yes, like before."

Keith flushed and looked away. "You have the wrong idea, I just had to... if I had just said that my dick was funky you would have demanded to see it anyway so I thought I would just cut out the middleman."

"Okay that? That is a terrible plan, Keith."

"I'm not going around flashing just _anybody!_ I wouldn't do that to Pidge!"

"That's some comfort, I guess. You're only a pervert to me." Lance raised an eyebrow. "And to Allura, I bet."

" _Lance._ " Keith looked away, arms folded and chin down. "I don't wanna talk about her."

"Okay, look," Lance leaned forward. "I'll talk with you about whatever you want, okay? But you can't do," he gestured slightly, at Keith. " _That_."

"That." Keith repeated in a flat tone.

"Be, I dunno, _you_. You gotta let some walls down, dude. We're all a team here, and you’re just bricking yourself off like you think it's going to protect you in the long run." Lance sighed and folded his arms as well, mirroring Keith's sulking pose. "You haven't been hanging around Shiro like you used to, either. He's noticed."

"Well, he has you now." Keith's voice went soft. "And I'm glad."

Lance sighed, it was hard to keep how pleased he was at that from showing. "I don't want my relationship with Shiro to impact _yours_." That wasn't exactly a lie, even if he wanted to eternally monopolize Shiro's attention he was also a realist.

Keith's face was flushed red, and he looked away when Lance leaned in closer. His scent had picked up again, sharp and pungent, and it was making Lance's nose itch. Being this close his body was starting to respond in kind. He'd been confused and miserable the first time that this had happened to him on an alien planet; this time he _knew_  what it meant when the heat started pooling in his belly, when his senses began to heighten and broaden. Lance wet his lips once and realized smugly that Keith's eyes had darted to catch the movement, before returning to his face instead.

There was a long moment of silence stretched between them, punctuated only by their breathing, seemingly amplified in the small work area. Then Keith swallowed and looked away. "I can't," he said, chest heaving, and Lance wasn't certain what he was responding to any longer.

Somehow, this his switched from a talk to something else entirely, something that he needed to get under control _now._ He couldn't, either, as that screaming part of his brain that he'd been intentionally ignoring reminded him that he had a mate already and that even considering anything else was supremely unfair to him. Lance chewed his bottom lip and sat back, finally, scrubbing his hands over his face and taking deep, deep breaths. It wasn't helping that every breath took in more of Keith's scent, excited and overwhelmed and needy, and that was setting aflame parts of Lance that he wasn't even _aware_  of. "I know," Lance said dryly, thinking about trying to stagger to his feet and flee to Shiro, pinning him to a wall and fucking out all this pent-up _need_  curling inside him. "I know."

And yet, neither of them moved. They stared at each other, trapped the same by the tension in the moment, and Lance knew that something had to happen to break it or else something he didn't want to happen _would._  Keith shifted suddenly and that drew his attention, but it was so he could press the heel of his hand against the bulge in his pants and let out a low whine at the expected pressure. "Keith," Lance said, and tried not to think about how needy Keith would sound pinned underneath him, "I should ... I need to-" He needed to go, _now._

_He wasn't going anywhere._

Instead of pushing himself to his feet Lance leaned forward and put his hand over Keith's, over the bulge in his tight, dark pants. This time it was Keith who wet his lips and he groaned, sliding his hand out from under Lance's and closing his eyes as Lance applied pressure. His groin was so hot even through the fabric, and Lance rubbed slowly, trying to find his shape.

"What's it look like hard?" Lance asked, eyes on his hand, on Keith's crotch.

Keith let out another small groan. "I haven't looked. Don't wanna."

Well, Lance really wanted to see. He'd seen Keith's dick flaccid, strangely purple and different from what it used to be and now the curiosity was eating him alive. He slipped his fingers behind the buckle on Keith's pants and, when there was no response or request to stop, flipped the belt open and popped the fly.

The scent of Keith tripled immediately, much heavier and thicker and Lance was almost salivating with it. He wanted nothing more than to flip Keith over right now, yank his pants down just far enough and bury himself to the hilt inside, and the fact that this feeling was almost overwhelming him was so alarming that he released Keith's pants and sat back, panting audibly, mouth open. He glanced up at Keith's face and his was beet red, from ear to ear, and a faint shimmer of fresh sweat had started along his hairline. When Lance lifted his hand Keith's went immediately to replace it, pulling the front of his pants open enough that he could easily jam his hand into his underwear and free his cock.

Lance's eyes went straight to it, and he almost choked on his own breath. Hard, Keith's cock had almost doubled in size, so thick that Lance wasn't certain his own hand would close around it. The ridges that he had noted had expanded outward, thin bands that were a darker color than the engorged flesh beneath. Fluid gathered at the tip of his cock, glistening in the overhead light, and that, at least, looked _somewhat_  normal. "Holy shit," Lance said, and all thoughts of shame or worry flew out of his head just that fast, pulled under by the strength of Keith's need.

Keith touched two fingers to the head of his cock and trembled. Without waiting for Keith to ask for it, Lance reached forward and gently grasped under the head. He was wrong, his hand _did_  reach around it, but just barely, and his fingers didn't brush his thumb. He very gently stroked downward, and when his hand slid over one of the bands it collapsed under his hand, flattening to Keith's cock. On that stroke back upward, though, Lance ran up against the way the band expanded, and he let out a small noise of amusement. "It's so you can't pull out," he said, releasing his hand and starting again from the top. "It keeps you inside, like a knot. But smaller, and several of them."

It must be _amazing_  to feel them inside, and Lance shivered, thinking about the friction and the tug of those expanding rings against his rim. "I want it inside of me," he said without thinking, hand tight on Keith's cock. Keith let out a small, confused sound and Lance's eyes darted back up to him.

"You're an alpha," Keith said, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah, and?" He stroked down again, felt Keith's cock jerk against his hand. "I like bottoming too, why is that a surprise? Shiro loves to fuck me raw." The mention of his mate was like a cold shower on his ardor and, with some regret, Lance released Keith's dick, pushing himself upright. "Oh."

Keith wet his lips again, expression slightly glazed, and then glanced down between them at his own cock before looking back to Lance. After a moment of this, he seemed to register the source of Lance's discomfort and his eyes widened. "Oh shit," he said. "Shiro."

Lance shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm sorry, Keith," he said, breathless, Keith's heat in his lungs and on his lips. "I just, I _can't_." The pull to remain was so strong, the pheromones in the air so thick that he was surprised Shiro hadn't been drawn down to the Red Lion's flight bay to investigate himself. "This is wrong."

"I'm sorry," Keith said, and he sounded so _broken_  that Lance almost stayed, felt like he needed to, like he needed to be the one who fixed this for Keith. He swallowed hard and bit his lip, but ultimately the logic in his brain won out.

"I have to go," he said, and backpedaled, toward the door.

He wasn't looking, but he caught the way the Red Lion's eyes seemed to flash as he left the flight bay.

He needed to see Shiro.

 

#

 

Shiro was in the galley when Lance finally found him, grabbing a quick bite to eat. Lance could barely catch his scent, so overwhelmed with Keith's, but then again Shiro wasn't currently on his heat. Even so Lance would be drawn to his scent throughout the ship, and that being muddied by _anything_ , especially _Keith_ , was frightening him. Shiro looked up when he sensed Lance enter the room, and he smiled at Lance, comfortable and warm in a way that lit a fire in the center of Lance's chest. "Where have you been?" Shiro asked conversationally, although Lance swore there was an accusatory undertone to his words.

He couldn't know, they hadn't actually _done_  anything ... so why did Lance feel so guilty?

Without a word Lance stalked across the kitchen. Shiro had already resumed making his sandwich and was caught only slightly by surprise when Lance gripped his shoulder and turned him slightly, so that Lance could look directly into Shiro's eyes. "I love you," Lance said, like it was a revelation, and Shiro laughed affectionately.

"Yeah, I love you too," he said, and tilted his head to kiss Lance.

That was all it took. Lance kissed him back hard, passionately, and Shiro's eyes widened in surprise as Lance pushed him back against the counter, attempting to trap Shiro in with his body. His blood was screaming in his veins, he was so _hard_  and _god_ , he needed to fucking _knot_  someone and the image of Keith on his belly and whining for release hadn't quite been banished yet. He needed to knot his mate, mark him, and leave Keith's weird alien dick to his weird alien girlfriend.

"Lance," Shiro said, breathless, when Lance let him up for air. He had flushed a brilliant red, not flushed nearly as dark as Keith, but he was looking at Lance with a curious, concerned expression. Shiro cupped Lance's face with his right hand, brow furrowed. "Are you all right?"

"No," Lance said, voice hoarse. _I need to knot you._  Shiro's expression darkened slightly in concern, and Lance cupped his face with both hands, staring into Shiro's eyes pleadingly. "Keith's in heat," he said, breathing hard. "I'm in a rut, _please_ , Shiro..."

Both of Shiro's eyebrows lifted, and then came together. He leaned forward and kissed Lance again, noticeably more aggressive this time. "He sent you into a rut?" Shiro stared at Lance, but there wasn't anything accusatory in his gaze. "He's been in heat before, it hasn't affected you like this."

His brain wasn't working at full capacity right now, and the only thing Lance could really even think about was knotting, so he growled and kissed Shiro again to shut him up. "Up," he ordered, pushing Shiro back against the counter. Somewhere in the back of his mind Lance could hear Hunk screeching about even the _thought_  of this in his kitchen, unsanitary, but Lance wasn't in his best mind at the moment. And neither, apparently, was Shiro, who obediently hiked himself up on the counter and spread his legs, one hand draped over Lance's shoulder as Lance settled between them.

It was a simple matter to unhook Shiro's belt and tug down his pants. Shiro raised no complaint to this, although his eyes were carefully focused on Lance and not what he was doing. Lance ignored the scrutiny, running his hand down Shiro's very normal, thick cock and stroking him quickly to fully erect. It was a relief, after seeing the strangeness of Keith's cock, for Shiro's to be so normal. Lance rubbed his thumb over its head, pressing as clear slick beaded over at the slit. "Are you wet?" Lance asked breathlessly, and Shiro shook his head, face flushed and teeth worrying his bottom lip.

"Not on my heat," he reminded Lance, and Lance swore softly. That would make things more difficult. Lance made to push Shiro's legs further apart but they wouldn't go any farther, pants bunched around his thighs, and Lance swore more, uncreatively. He pulled Shiro forward and his boots hit the ground, and Shiro went relaxed, allowing Lance to manhandle him, letting him turn Shiro around bodily and press him against the counter.

Now, with Shiro's ass exposed, Lance put his hands on the thick, shaped muscle, digging his thumbs in as he spread Shiro's cheeks. He wasn't wet - not that Lance doubted his mate - and Lance let out a little groan of disappointment, rubbing his finger over Shiro's entrance and feeling Shiro shudder. It would hurt without the slick, be too dry for both of them. "Lube," Lance said without realizing, and looked around the kitchen.

Hunk was going to have a conniption fit when he got back, if he discovered that Lance had raided his pantry for an alien cooking oil, slick and fragrant, to use specifically to fuck Shiro against the counter.

So Lance made a mental note to never tell Hunk about this particular escapade. Shiro tilted his head forward and let out a low keen as Lance pushed two oil-slick fingers into him and got him sloppy, finger-fucking him slow and agonizing. " _More_ ," Shiro demanded, a whine on the edge of his voice, and Lance could give him that.

He worked himself in slowly, jeans loose on his hips, and Shiro let out a long, shuddering sigh as Lance bottomed out, pressing himself flush against Shiro's back. "God," Lance said into the fabric bunched at Shiro's shoulders. "You feel so _good,_ Takashi."

Shiro shuddered again and clenched at the use of his name. Lance laughed and kissed the back of his neck, knowing that under the fabric of his collar was the claim mark that showed Lance's ownership. "Like that, huh?"

"Fuck, Lance," Shiro hissed, and the counter creaked as Shiro leaned into it with his full weight. "Do it fast and hard."

"Absolutely, baby," Lance said, running his hands down Shiro's sides and setting them on his trim waist. "Whatever you want."

Shiro was so tight, but even without the slick of his heat the oil kept things moving as they should. He tightened on Lance, dragging on him, and Lance wrapped his arms around Shiro's lower chest, holding him tight as he rolled his hips. It would be over quick, he'd blow his load and knot and then they would stay like this, panting, until his knot went down. After all, Shiro was _his_  to breed. Lance groaned at the thought, felt his balls tighten and he pressed his face to Shiro's back as he rode him deep and strong.

" _Lance,"_  Shiro's voice was strangled, and without opening his eyes Lance slid his hand over Shiro's thighs, finding his erection and squeezing it. He began to stroke him and Shiro's gasping breaths went straight into a keening pant, his body primed and ready.

"Good boy," Lance murmured, and rolled his face, eyes opening and catching a glimpse of the door to the kitchen. It stood open - which it shouldn't be, the sensors closed it after a body passed through - and realized with a jolt the reason that it was open was because Keith was standing there watching them, his eyes wide but not looking away. Somehow the fact that they were being watched hadn't broken his rhythm, and he made eye contact with Keith, who was turning a brilliant shade of red. "Good _boy_ ," Lance said again as Shiro whined, his muscles contracting on Lance, and Lance ran his other hand up Shiro's back, fingers tangling in his short hair and pulling his head back just as a display for Keith.

Predictably, perhaps, Shiro gasped and shuddered when his head was yanked back, Lance's name spilling from his lips as his seed painted white stripes on the countertop. Lance crooned something sweet and mindless to him as Shiro slumped forward, and Lance put both of his hands back on Shiro's hips, holding him still so that he could fuck into him hard and savage. It took just four more pumps and he was done, firing off into Shiro and feeling his entire body quake with its reception.

There was a brief moment of silence as Lance gasped into Shiro's back, his knot growing fast until they were tied together, and then Lance looked back to the door to see it closed, Keith gone. Ah well, he was missing the best part.

Lance rocked his hips slowly now, moving the knot inside of Shiro's channel and listening to the beautiful music of an overstimulated omega gasping and sobbing for additional release. "Shh," Lance soothed as he pushed his knot in deep again, and Shiro shook underneath him. He dragged his hips back and let his knot tug at Shiro's rim, the force of its pressure unraveling Shiro and causing a second orgasm to spurt weakly from his dick. "Good, you're so good," Lance soothed him, stroking his too-sensitive cock slowly, and riding out the wave of euphoria.

It took a good ten minutes for his knot to go down this time, enough so that he could pull it free of Shiro's hole without causing any damage. As soon as his cock popped loose, thick globs of white started escaping behind it, and Lance smirked as he watched it all leak from Shiro's abused hole.

After a long moment of remaining stationary, Shiro pushed himself up off the counter, arms trembling. " _Fuck_ ," Shiro breathed, holding himself in place for a second as if he were afraid to move. "Lance, that was... _fuck_ -"

"Incredible?" Lance said, allowing the smug note to escape as he buttoned himself back up.

"Fucking _savage_ ," Shiro was still slightly incoherent, which was a _big_  win as far as Lance was concerned, considering the amount of time he had to come down off his high. Shiro finally straightened entirely, legs wobbly, and Lance put his hand flat against Shiro's back for support, kissing him tenderly.

"Thank you," Lance said. "I feel much better now, my head is clearer."

"Yeah," Shiro blinked a few times, exhaled, and seemingly found his center. He glanced down at himself, cum smeared across his belly and dripping down the inside of his thighs, and then gave Lance a flat, slightly unamused look. "I'm a _mess._ "

"A very attractive mess," Lance said, kissing his cheek. "I'll help you clean up." He grabbed some of the hand towels that Hunk kept around and went quickly to work. Shiro made a muffled noise that he couldn't classify as pleasure or pained as Lance wiped him down ... it wouldn't do much for what was leaking _from_  him, but a shower would take care of the rest. Lance wiped the counter clean of Shiro's fluid with a different towel as Shiro leaned back against it, shakily pulling his pants up from where they had fallen around his ankles and buckling them again.

"Maybe next time you feel like you need to fuck," Shiro said, voice mostly back to normal, "you could consider asking me back to our room or something."

"Don't lie, you've thought about me taking you on the counter since before we started fucking," Lance teased, tossing the dirty towels in what he hoped was a dirty towel laundry chute. When he glanced at Shiro after saying that, he was surprised to see the flush paint Shiro's cheeks pink again. "Holy shit, Shiro, I was just being cute. Did you really?"

"No," Shiro said.  
  
"You liar," Lance laughed, especially when Shiro pulled him close and kissed him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance had his unfortunate share of stupid ideas, but agreeing to spar with Keith one whole day later was probably among his top dumbest. He'd gotten his head clear finally, for the first time in days; he'd gotten his rut under control with Shiro's willing assistance (and the deep purr of Shiro's voice in bed this morning, eyes wicked, _I_ like _this side of you, Lance),_ and here he was standing in front of Keith again, bare feet on the training mat.

Yeah, this was a _bad_  idea.

Keith was a better scrapper than Lance, no contest - not that Lance would publicly admit that to anyone, least of all himself. Shiro was seated on a bench on the sidelines observing, because that was the only way Lance felt safe that nothing _untoward_  would occur between them. Lance cast a glance over to his mate, to find that Shiro was watching Keith warm up with a lazy smirk.

Lance paused.

He hadn't been entirely blind to the relationship that existed between Shiro and Keith before - they were so close that he'd assumed them lovers. He'd been wrong about that, of course, but it still stood that their relationship was deeply personal, and it _definitely_  went beyond a simple camaraderie between omegas. The way that Shiro's eyes flickered over Keith's form almost made Lance feel _jealous._

Then he thought, with rising guilt, of his hand on Keith's naked cock and averted his eyes.

"C'mon, Lance," Keith said, doing some final arm stretches before spreading his arms. "Let's see what you've got."

"Oh, you can't _handle_  what I've got," Lance retorted, and he looked to Shiro again only to find Shiro was watching him this time with the same smirk. When he noticed Lance's attention, Shiro made a show of slowly looking him over. Lance flushed, half-pleased, and glanced back to an unimpressed Keith. "What's the matter," Lance asked, and put his hands on his hips, jutting one hip out and looking at Keith sideways. "You afraid?"

"Hardly," Keith snorted. "If you're so sure of yourself then, try to pin me."  Keith's arms remained wide open, an invitation.

"You asked for it," Lance said.

Lance hit the mat, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. "All right," Keith said lightly, still unimpressed. "Again."

And that was how it went. And went. And _went_. Lance was already intimately acquainted with the mat on the training deck's floor, having been put there before by no less than Shiro and occasionally Hunk, but this? This felt worse. He was getting shown up by an omega, right in front of his _mate_. Lance growled when he hit the mat this time, involuntarily, deep in his throat. Keith paused, his hand still on Lance's shoulder.

"Again," Shiro ordered this time, from his seat observing, and Lance remembered where he was.

He was supposed to be learning from this, the entire purpose of training like this was to be more prepared for any physical battles that may occur in their profession as Paladins of Voltron - but something else was happening here, under the surface, and Lance wasn't entirely certain what it was. The only thing he knew was that he was no longer in control of this narrative, and riding it out seemed more and more dangerous the longer it went on.

The heel of Keith's hand caught his jaw but instead of going down Lance stepped in closer, getting his hand into the short hair at the back of Keith's head and they went down together this time, Lance on top of Keith, and the heat in his belly blossomed like a flower in the sun. Keith's eyes went wide at being pinned but he flipped them fast, Lance's back hitting the mat but this time there wasn't enough force to knock him senseless, and Keith was _straddling him_.

Lance's brain short-circuited.

Keith yelped when Lance rolled them again, and his face went red. He was starting to stink of his heat again, or maybe he had been all along and Lance had been oblivious, the scent of him overridden by the musk of his mate also present. Curiously, Shiro's presence did nothing to pull him out from under this time, and he held Keith down easily, staring down at him, panting and turned on. Keith gulped air, looked frustrated and confused and _totally_  into it and Lance didn't know what to do or where to go with this. After a moment of holding Keith down, letting him feel his weight he shifted and that action pushed his groin into Keith's thigh and Keith's face went ashen with the recognition of Lance's need.

" _Lance,"_ Keith gasped, and Lance went still.

He looked up suddenly, meeting Shiro's gaze with his eyes dilated and mouth open slightly, panting hard. Keith wasn't _fighting_  him in this, he remained pinned under Lance, chest heaving all the same, but Lance was meeting Shiro's eye now. Shiro's expression hadn't twitched, it remained the same - and Lance felt called to him by it and after a moment of fighting his own internal battle, forced himself to release Keith and stagger to his feet. "Told you," he gasped, somehow, his brain fried to nothing. "You can't handle me."

"Lance," Shiro's voice was firm, calm ... commanding. The way he said his name was the exact opposite of how Keith had just said it, and Lance focused on Shiro and found his center of the universe. He took a deep breath, filled with pheromones, and stepped away from Keith.  He went to Shiro, who held his arm out for Lance. Instead of embracing him, though, Shiro gripped his arm tight with his prosthetic hand and stared up at Lance with purpose. "You're _mine_ ," he said, and his tone had shifted from calm to _possessive._  Lance swallowed hard but didn't look away.

"I'm yours," he said, and it wasn't a lie. Shiro's hand gripped his arm tighter.

Neither of them looked back at Keith, on the mat.

 

#

 

 

There was no cool-off, after training shower. Shiro dragged him all the way back to their room, hand closed punishingly tight on Lance's arm and when the doors to their chambers closed behind them he he spun, pinning Lance to the wall with his body. Shiro didn't have to ask the question, the look in his eyes spoke volumes more than he could ever articulate.

Lance tilted his head back, panting hard, chest heaving still. Sweat slicked his skin and the taste of Keith's heat was still in his mouth; he could still feel the pressure of Keith's thigh against his groin. "I want him," Lance said, the urge escaping without warning. Shiro covered Lance's crotch with his hand, his eyes still on Lance's face, and Lance didn't look away. "I want to knot him, fill him, I want to _mark him-_ " Lance groaned when Shiro moved his hand from Lance’s groin to his mouth, face close to Lance's, expression unreadable.

"You're _mine_ ," Shiro repeated, an angry undercurrent to his voice, dangerous and unmistakable. Lance groaned against Shiro's hand on his mouth, a familiar scent, weight ... and thought again of Keith.

 _He needs my knot_. Lance whined, and Shiro forced him back into the wall again with his body weight.

"I thought we took care of your rut," Shiro said, without removing his hand or allowing Lance to actually speak the words that had overwhelmed his mind. "What's going on, am I not enough for you, now?"

Those words broke through to Lance, and his eyes widened. He said something, muffled, as Shiro's hand continued to press tight over his mouth. Finally, he lifted his palm, and Lance whined. "I _love_  you," he said, his hands going to Shiro's face and pressing their foreheads together. "You are my one and only mate, Shiro." Shiro did not look away, his gaze intense. "Keith needs to be knotted or else this is just going to keep getting worse."

"Allura can knot him."

"Not in the way he needs." Lance squirmed under the press of Shiro's body. "She's not ... Alteans aren't like humans, I don't even know if she can make a knot." Shiro's bare left hand was inching its way under Lance's shirt, and the feeling of his bare palm on Lance's skin was setting his nerves alight again. "I don't want to claim him, I just ... it's only gonna get worse, Shiro."

"You have me to satisfy you," Shiro's voice was a low rumble in his ear. "We can ride it out. His other heats haven't been like this."

That was true, but his other heats hadn't been interfered with by his Galra biology. Lance opened his mouth to remind Shiro of that, but then he remembered laying hands on Keith's bizarre Galra dick and closed his mouth again. "This one is different," he said finally, pushing his hands back into Shiro's hair. Shiro groaned at Lance's fingers and gave in, finally, kissing him desperately, though it brought Lance no relief.

Shiro's hand traveled up his chest, dragging Lance's shirt with it. Then, he shifted gears and the hand went south, straight into the waistband of Lance's pants. He made a muffled noise against Shiro's mouth as Shiro popped the button and dragged his pants open.

He was hard and they both knew it - the scent of Keith's heat still on his body. He didn't know if Shiro could smell it like he could, taste it in his mouth, in his lungs - but Shiro kept his eyes on Lance as his prosthetic Galra hand took Lance's cock and stroked it. Lance inhaled sharply, as Shiro pumped the shaft, but didn't look away.

"I won't touch him," Lance said, dragging the words out from behind his heart, because he _loved_  Shiro and he was strong enough to ignore the way his body was screaming at him. "I won't, Shiro, I _won't_ -"

Shiro kissed him again, squeezing the base of Lance's cock. "I know you won't," he said, his voice gone hoarse. "But I won't ask you to promise me."

Wait, _what?_

"Shiro?" Lance asked, a shiver wicking up his spine as Shiro stroked him again, firm and with purpose. What did that _mean_ , his brain wasn't entirely plugged in right now and he wasn't clear, did that mean...?

Shiro's eyes were searching his. "You want to help him," he said. "You don't love him."

Lance opened his mouth and closed it again. Didn't he love Keith too? Not any more than he loved Allura, or Hunk, or Pidge... it was a different feeling than the love he had for Shiro, and Shiro knew it. "What are you saying?" Lance tried, because he couldn't process this without exact, explicit, confirmation.

Shiro shifted his stance, his weight still keeping Lance in place against the wall. "I watched you both in there," he said. "And I recognized Keith's expression." He cupped Lance's face, still stroking him, still keeping up the soft, solid pressure of his hand on Lance's dick. "Didn't you?"

Lance had all but banished the comparison from his mind before it drove him mad; Shiro, on his back on the soft bed, one hand thrown above his head, absolutely ravishing in the low light of the sleeping quarters, and wanting nothing at all but Lance's knot. It was the same look in Keith's eyes now, knowing that relief was near but not being able to take that relief for himself. Lance swallowed hotly around the lump in his throat as Shiro whispered the next words directly into Lance's ear. "I want to watch you knot him, Lance."

It was too much. Lance let out a low moan, head knocking back into the wall and coming undone in Shiro's hand, covering the prosthetic in his seed several times over. Shiro didn't stop stroking him until Lance hissed in pain, and only then did he release him.

Lance panted, open-mouthed, his head tilted back against the wall as he came down off his high. Shiro was still leaned over him, elbow on the wall beside Lance's head, body too close. "You can't meant that," Lance said finally, voice dry and cracked, one hand drifting to Shiro's shoulder and bunching in the tight fabric of his top. "You really want to watch me..." chest heaving still, eyes on his mate, "and _Keith?"_

Shiro cupped Lance's cheek with his other hand, rubbing his thumb over the rise of Lance's cheekbone. "I do and I don't," he said, finally. "I don't want to watch you knot anyone else, you're _my_  alpha." There was a growl attached to the end of the term, possessive and needy in the best way. After a moment his expression softened again, and he sighed out a small noise. "But Keith needs it, and I don't want him to suffer."

"Well, there's always Pidge," Lance said speculatively, and that was worth it alone just for the startled, choked, and absolutely _horrified_  noise Shiro managed to make at that suggestion. "She's an alpha too," he added, unnecessarily, for bonus damage.

"Lance," Shiro said, "never bring that up again."

"Why not?" He was actively teasing Shiro now, both hands trailing down the front of Shiro's shirt, fingers plucking at the tight fabric. "I'm really surprised that she didn't get sent into a rut by his stupid Galra heat too, maybe that's why she lit out of here like her ass was on fire..." Even as he spoke the words, the realization set in and he jerked his head up, looking at Shiro with wide eyes. "God _dammit_ ," he yelped, pushing Shiro away. "She _did!_ "

Shiro caught both of his wrists and with very little difficulty kept him in place, thwarting Lance's plan to storm over to the bed and grab his phone from the shelf inset above their pillows. "So?" Shiro asked, as Lance tugged ineffectively at Shiro's grip.

After a moment of struggling in Shiro's grasp, Lance went slack and sighed. "We can find another way," he said, silent too long, shifting the conversation back.

Shiro rubbed his thumbs over the back of Lance's hands, loosening his grip and sliding Lance's hands into his own. Without even looking Lance twined his fingers through Shiro's, and they went from Shiro holding Lance in place to holding hands.  After a moment, Shiro pulled Lance's hands up and kissed them. "I love you so much," Shiro said, the affection in his voice broken and jumbled-up, and Lance sighed, wanting to ease his fears and not knowing how to do so.

Lance pulled Shiro toward the bed and Shiro went with him, sitting down beside him. Lance felt a little disgusting and sticky in his pants, but he leaned into Shiro's side. "If we're really doing this," Lance said, "there needs to be some ground rules, right?"

Shiro put his arm over Lance's shoulder and kissed the side of his head. "Stop doing that," he said, and Lance screwed up his nose and squinted at Shiro, clearly perplexed. "You're in my head again."

"Well I'm your alpha, of course I'm in your head," Lance teased, leaned into Shiro. He laughed when Shiro nuzzled into his head, and then they both looked at each other, finally smiling.

"So," Shiro said, and he gave Lance a measuring look. "Ground rules."

 

#

 

The next hurdle, of course, was actually talking to _Keith_  about this brilliant plan. It was all well and good that they had come to an accord, but ... if Keith wasn't on board then it wasn't worth it. Shiro had washed Lance's hair in the shower as they talked, his fingers scratching through Lance's mop of brown hair in a comforting way, and Lance returning his favor from earlier with his mouth.

Keith would be into it, Shiro was a hundred percent certain on this. Lance was fairly certain too, but then again what your _body_  decided you were into and what your _mind_  decided you were good with were two entirely different kettles of fish.

So there were maybe more appropriate places to bring this up than over dinner, but as Hunk and Pidge and Allura still had not yet returned it only left the three of them to eat together. Keith had made himself intentionally scarce after the sparring incident, so it was the next-best time to ambush him.

Hunk's absence left Coran free to do terrible things to cuisine in the kitchen, and Lance made a face as he looked at the pile of something nebulous on his plate that _could_  have been some strange form of spaghetti ... if the spaghetti was a greenish hue, and didn't twitch of its own volition occasionally.

Keith, who apparently had an iron stomach and no sense in his head, had taken to the meal immediately and was in the business of clearing his plate, eyes on a datapad that he had dragged to the table with him and clearly using it to avoid actually having to participate in a conversation. Shiro sat across from them and, like Lance, was slowly mulling over his meal and contemplating the impact on his digestive tract. "I miss Hunk," Lance said with a sigh, stabbing at his meal with the two-pronged fork and watching with only mild horror at how some of the things loosely identified as noodles attempted to evade his spearing them. "When are they supposed to be back, again?"

"I spoke to the Princess this morning!" Coran called from the kitchen, appearing in the doorway between the rooms with a new tray in his hands. Lance's fear skyrocketed at that, because he was bringing _more_  food and it actually smelled like something halfway decent, so it probably tasted horrible. "She said that they had moved on to the Space Mall outside the Beruvian cluster, and that Hunk had..." Coran screwed up his face for a moment, clearly overthinking the terminology used, "been cat-nipped?"

There was a moment of silence, and Keith raised his head. "Kidnapped?" he suggested, a frown on his face.

"Ah yes, that's it. Kidnapped!"

The look of alarm that passed between the three of them was instant and palpable, and the fact that Coran didn't seem concerned at all only made things worse. Shiro stood, his hands on the table. "We need to get to our Lions," he said, and Coran tutted at Shiro, sitting a new plate of food before him.

"I didn't say he was _still_  cat-nipped," Coran said. "The Princess and Number Five took care of it! She said they should be back in the next quintant or so, and not to worry. They would communicate if they needed assistance."

Without another word Coran bustled out of the dining area, and back to the kitchen. Shiro sat slowly back down and sighed, resting his elbow on the table and pushing his hand back through his hair for a moment. "Why didn't Allura simply communicate that to us?" he said, mostly rhetorically.

"Allura probably contacted Coran directly because she doesn't want to see me," Keith said, a subdued tone to his voice, and Lance looked up, catching Shiro's eye at the same time.

"I'm certain that's not true, Keith," Shiro said. "Allura can put aside petty issues if there was something larger at stake."

 _'Petty issues?'_  Lance mouthed at Shiro, but Shiro wasn't looking at him, staring instead at Keith who had dropped his gaze to his datapad again, expression stormy.

"Yeah, okay," Keith said, in a tone that was one hundred percent not okay.

Lance looked at the second plate of food Coran had left behind - some sort of scrambled egg-like substance, it smelled like ... and it was even yellow, although the tone didn't match chicken eggs. It was a more orange-red color, and after a moment to ensure that the food did not move or provide any other semblance of life, he took a tentative bite.

They _tasted_  like eggs, too. Relieved, Lance began to tuck into the plate. He was certain that he was going to have to deal with the remainder of the day on an empty stomach, and that meant bad news for everybody involved. He noticed Shiro too, investigating the plate and pushing his noodles away, which made him feel at least a little better about it.

Keith stood abruptly, his plate of egg-like food untouched, but the noodles mostly demolished. "I'm hitting the training deck," he announced, and stalked off. Lance watched him go, chewing slowly before swallowing and looking across the table at Shiro. They hadn't been able to broach the topic, because the last thing that they wanted was to involve Coran in on this, and now the moment was lost.

"Go after him," Shiro said softly, without looking at Lance.

Lance's head snapped up, and his gaze was drawn to Shiro like a magnet. "Shiro?"

"Just don't _do_  anything, yet," Shiro said, and his voice was calm and quiet and pitched exactly like an order; in the way that made Lance's stomach curl up on itself and made him want to flop over and show Shiro his belly. God _damn_ , Shiro should have been an alpha ... but, Lance reasoned as he dumped his dished into the center of the table, where they were swallowed by the Castleship's automated dishwashing systems, if Shiro had been an alpha, the chances of them actually getting together would have been in the negative. He would have mated and bonded Keith long before any of this Voltron nonsense happened, and ... Lance would still be on the outside, looking in.

He shivered, and left the dining area.

 

#

 

Keith was sitting on the floor in the training deck, cross-legged. He hadn't taken off his jacket, and was glued to his datapad like it held the secrets of the universe. He was clearly watching _something_ , very intently, and this time he had his earbuds in. Lance stood just inside the door of the training deck for a while, watching him, and felt Keith's scent increase slowly, as he started working himself up without even moving. What the _heck_  was he _watching?_

Lance walked slowly closer, aware that a startled Keith was a nose-breaking Keith. Keith didn't look up though, wholly entranced by the datapad's screen, to the point where he'd placed it on the ground between his spread legs and had shoved one hand into his pants, rocking against it slightly. No _wonder_  his scent was growing so thick so quickly, he was fucking into his hand right here in front of Lance.

For a brief moment Lance wondered how easily he was able to fuck his hand with the ridges on his newly-revealed Galra cock, but he managed to dismiss that particular thought, especially when he glanced down and realized that what Keith was watching so intently was a video feed that had been captured here in the Castleship.

Of him.

And Shiro.

The blush hit fast and hard - because, while _knowing_  that there were cameras everywhere in the Castleship was one thing, actually seeing them caught out in the act was another completely - and Lance almost kicked the datapad away on reflex. This particular feed wasn't from earlier, it wasn't Lance taking Shiro in the kitchen, it was from a few weeks ago when Shiro was on the tail end of his heat and hiding his need until he was alone with Lance. Shiro was so _good_  at disguising that need, that want - if his scent didn't give him away Lance wouldn't have even known.

They were in the hallway down by the Black Lion's flight bay, Shiro half out of his Paladin armor and proving his flexibility to Lance once again, balanced on one leg and with the other almost flush with his chest, ankle on Lance's shoulder. Lance kept him pressed wide open as he fucked him slow and shallow, watching as Shiro begged him for it fast and deep.

"How many videos do you _have_  of us?" Lance asked before thinking about it, and Keith tore his earbuds free and threw himself across the room, putting his back to the wall and staring at Lance, chest heaving. Keith's reaction startled Lance, but not to the extent of throwing himself halfway across the room, he was honestly expecting to just get punched or something, not startle Keith into next week. "Whoa, _whoa!_ "

"Holy _shit_ , Lance!" Keith yelled, his back to the wall and staring at him wildly. "Haven't you ever heard of _knocking?_ "

"Why would I _knock_  on the training room doors?" Lance countered, eyes drawn down because Keith had been seriously masturbating to a video of Shiro and Lance having sex and he hadn't even done Lance the courtesy of having his dick hang out. There was a fair bit of wet spot on the front of his pants, though, and it was growing slightly. "This isn't your bedroom, samurai. Keep your weapon sheathed."

"Yeah, _you're_  one to talk," Keith's chest was still heaving, fingers curled against the wall and catching the front of his shirt with his other hand, dragging it up over his nose to wipe his face. "Is there anywhere on this ship you and Shiro _haven't_  fucked?"

"Your room," Lance retorted, scowling at Keith. Keith bristled, and Lance bristled right back. "What the fuck are you doing, Keith, you jerking off to us?"

"It's none of your goddamn business," Keith said, baring his teeth. Lance didn't remember them looking so sharp.

"It's every bit of my goddamn business if you're wanking off over my _mate."_ There was a fire lit inside of Lance now, stoked deep down. _My mate._  Not Shiro, but _mine._  "I don't care if you're looking at my fine ass when you take care of business, but Shiro is _off limits._ "

"Then don't fuck where the cameras can see you," Keith hissed. "Don't fuck in the corridors, don't fuck in the launch bays, don't fuck in the goddamn fucking _kitchen-_ " and he flushed a hard red now, as Lance stared at him, and Keith looked away sharply.

"You were watching us there," Lance said. "You walked right in on us."

"Can't you keep your dick in your pants long enough to get back to your room?" Keith said, but it was more of an aside, as he didn't seem to be able to raise his eyes to Lance at the moment. "No one wants to see that."

"Except you."

"I _didn't."_

"You're watching me fuck Shiro right _now_  on your datapad!"

There was a long moment of silence, and Keith refused to meet his eye. "Can you just go the fuck away?" Keith said, finally. "I gotta deal with this."

"No," Lance said, and Keith jerked his head up, glaring. "No, we're dealing with this now."

"What the _fuck_ , Lance."

Lance folded his arms and matched Keith's glare. "Why are you watching us fuck? I mean, I know you're thirsty for Shiro, and my brown ass is fine as hell, but you've never expressed interest before now. It's your heat, isn't it?"

" _Lance_ ," Keith said, and folded his hands behind his head, covering his ears with his arms and squeezing his eyes shut. After a moment of this he exhaled loudly and dropped his arms. "Okay, _fine_ ," he said, his voice on a near-shout. "It's my fucking heat, is that what you really wanted to hear? My goddamn hormones are making you way more goddamn attractive than you actually are, and it's bullshit, and I'm _over this_  but it doesn't seem to be ending."

They were both breathing hard and nearly shouting now, and the tension was buzzing between them like a live wire. Keith's very _existence_  seemed intent on winding Lance up and maybe this was all a stupid idea anyway, but Keith's heat had wormed its way into his lungs again and _fuck_  he had no defenses for the alien pheromones.

"So," Lance said, struggling to bring his voice back to a normal level. "We end it."

"What?" Keith folded his arms tight to his chest, trying to fold in on himself. "And how do you suggest we do that, genius? If it were like my normal heat it'd be over already." He tucked his chin to his chest but didn't take his eyes off Lance.

There was really no delicate way to put it. "We fuck," Lance said plainly. "I knot you. It satisfies the urge that's been driving you out of your mind for the past week and maybe puts an end to your heat."

Keith just _stared_  at Lance. "I can't believe you," he said, finally. "I can't believe you just ... you just _said_  it like that, like you aren't Shiro's _mate._ "

Lance wet his lips. "It's Shiro's idea," he said, quietly.

The silence stretched long and uncomfortable between them. "No," Keith said finally, shaking his head sharply. "No, no - no he did _not_." Lance watched Keith grapple with himself, grapple with something buried deep and it was insane how familiar the struggle was. "He wouldn't agree to that."

"Why would I lie?"

"Because you wanna fuck, and alphas lie to get laid," Keith spat the words and they hurt, fired like bullets from a gun. Lance put a hand on his chest, deeply injured, but Keith didn't look the slightest bit repentant. In fact, it didn't look like he was looking at Lance at all.

"There is no way that Shiro would agree to that," Keith said, more to himself than aloud to Lance. "We used to - back at the Garrison we used to talk about it, if we would ever find our alpha, and what they would be like and..." he had flushed such a brilliant red that Lance had to wonder if there was any blood left circulating in his nether region to keep him hard. "And..."

The thought of Shiro chatting away with Keith about being claimed, about wondering if there would even be an alpha who would _want_  an omega like him, it made Lance's throat want to close up. He wanted to run back to Shiro and throw his arms around his mate, bury his face against the side of his neck and remind him how much he was loved, right this instant ... but right now, Keith needed to not be alone and he knew it. "And...?" Lance prompted.

"And Shiro's so possessive that he said he'd rip the out the throats of any omega who tried to take his alpha," Keith finished. "With his teeth," he added, unnecessarily.

"Shiro's not going to tear out your throat for fucking around with me," Lance said, although the knowledge that Shiro was already possessive of him, before he even knew Lance's name, thrilled him somehow.

"Well," Shiro's voice startled them both, and Lance looked toward the entrance to the training deck to see the doors closing behind Shiro. "Keith's not wrong, I _did_  say that."

Immediately, all the tension in Lance drained away now that Shiro was here. His scent didn't overwhelm Keith's, but it was enough to ease Lance's mind. He smiled at his mate, dangerously sappy, and Shiro returned his soft smile. "However, I did _also_  say that Lance could help you out, Keith. If you wanted his help."

Keith was breathing hard again, on the verge of panting, and staring at Shiro with wide eyes. His gaze darted between Shiro and Lance for a moment, then Keith slumped back against the wall, putting one hand on his face and giving out a shallow, almost broken laugh. "Really?" he said, without looking at either one of them. "You'll _help_  me?"

"No," Lance said. "I'll fuck you raw, and knot you."

Keith choked a little and laughed again, wildly. He bit his lip and looked at the floor, then up at Lance's face again, considering.

Lance didn't startle when Shiro put his hand on Lance's shoulder, but he did look at Shiro, who nodded quietly. "Do you want my help or not?" Lance asked finally, and Keith groaned and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Yeah," he said, finally. "I do."

 

#

 

Keith's room stank like he did, and Lance supposed that he wasn't actually _surprised_  by that, but there was still some thrill in the fact that he was in Keith's personal and intimate space again. Keith stood by the bed, his back half to the door and his arms folded, unwilling to look either Lance or Shiro in the face, apparently. "Do you feel better here?" Shiro asked, tone mild and comforting, although instead of calming Keith it seemed to have an adverse reaction instead, his shoulders tightening and head ducking down low.

Lance inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of Keith's heat. He walked himself over to the desk against the far wall, pulling out its chair and slinging himself over the seat backwards. He folded his arms over its back, and watched Keith. His decisive movement caught Keith's attention in full, and he watched Lance silently, pupils dilated large enough that Lance could tell from across the room. Lance tilted his head in acknowledgement, and they stared at each other in utter silence.

"Keith?" Shiro asked, interrupting the silent communication between them. "Are you all right with this?"

"Yeah," Lance said, and put his chin in his hand. "Because if you're not okay with this then we can just leave."

It wasn't a threat, but it felt like it. "No," Keith said suddenly, firmly, but he still held himself tight and closed-off. "I'm fine. I'm fine with it." He looked away again. "Totally fine with it."

"You're not acting fine," Shiro said, and when he stepped in close to Keith he pulled himself more tightly together. Shiro's hand stopped before it landed on Keith's shoulder, and then he pulled it back, brows drawn together in concern. Lance cocked his head to the side, and removed his chin from his palm.

"Keith, what do you want?" he asked, and Keith looked at him again, clearly out of his depth.

There was a moment of silence while Keith considered the answer to Lance's question. Then he sighed loudly, and sat down on the bed. "For this to be _simple._ "

Lance and Shiro exchanged a look. "I don't," Keith said, and then fell quiet, reconsidering his words. "I want this," he said, finally. "But i don't want... _this_." He gestured at Lance and Shiro and made an encircling motion, indicating the room.

"The atmosphere?" Lance suggest, brow furrowed in confusion, and Shiro shook his head, speaking Keith better than Lance did.

"No," Shiro said, slowly. "You mean a relationship, don't you?"

Keith sighed again and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I don't want this to wreck the relationship we already have," he said to Shiro, and Shiro let out a small laugh, kneeling on the hard floor beside Keith and touching his knee tentatively.

"Keith," he said, firm. "Nothing about this will change the way I feel about you, as a friend or otherwise." He looked to Lance, who had not moved nor spoken. "I'm with Lance," he said, and there was a softness to his tone now. "We're mated, Keith. If we ever make it back to Earth we'll be married." Shiro's hand traveled now, to cup Keith's cheek, the thumb of his prosthetic hand brushing over the rise of Keith's cheekbone. "I don't want you to suffer, and..." he shrugged slightly, with just one shoulder. "Sex is fun. It doesn't mean this has to be more than what it is."

"Plus," Shiro added, because Keith still looked uncertain, though he had relaxed slightly with Shiro's hand on his cheek. "I need to make certain Lance doesn't have _too_  much fun without me." Lance stuck his tongue out at Shiro, who responded by casually flipping the bird at Lance without looking. That made Keith laugh, which in turn made Shiro smile easier. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Shiro told him softly. "We're here to help _you_ , not the other way around."

"Yeah," Lance added, flinging his legs out and balancing his heels on the floor. "Nothing you don't want to do, Keith."

Keith considered this, and then cocked his head, looking at Lance. "After you ran away before..." he started, and Shiro raised an eyebrow, looking over to Lance when Lance made a choked-off noise. "I thought that maybe my dick scared you off."

"Oh?" Shiro said, a hum of amusement undercut with a dangerous tone. "You've seen his dick already, Lance?"

"Not like that," Lance said, hurriedly.

"It was exactly like that," Keith said.

"He just showed me his fucky dick, Shiro. I didn't suck it or anything."

"You _touched_  it!"

"It looks weird! And touchable!"

"All right, all right," Shiro said, trying to cool the temperature. He tilted his head, looking Keith in the eye. "So do I get to see this weird alien dick of yours, or do I have to keep imagining it?"

Keith looked at Lance, as if awaiting his permission. Lance folded his arms over the back of the chair and set his chin atop them. "It's your show, Keith," Lance said. "I'm just here to watch."

" _Bullshit_  you are, get over here," Shiro said, and Lance laughed, climbing to his feet and moving closer. Keith looked suddenly stricken that there would be an audience to his delightfully weird alien dick and he hesitated again, but Shiro's soft words of encouragement kept him going and he unbuckled his pants and shoved them down his hips.

His Galra dick hadn't changed drastically from Lance's admitted one experience with it. Its cockhead was swollen and red, and the banded ridges stood out against the dark violet of his prick. Shiro was silent as Keith wriggled the rest of the way out of his pants, and silent still when Keith pulled his shirt up, catching its hem in his teeth and holding it so that Shiro (and Lance) could get the full view of his newest alien anatomy.

"Huh," Shiro said, after the silence stretched just a hair too long to be companionable. "That's new."

"No _shit_ ," Lance snorted, as Keith's red flush of embarrassment had translated quickly into shame. Before he could yank his shirt back down and try to cover himself with it, Lance flopped onto the bed beside Keith and put his hand on Keith's cock with no hesitation, pushing it down and away from his belly. Keith made a startled noise at the sudden contact, but didn't lose the shirt clenched in his teeth. "It's hot," Lance said, running his fingers down the top of Keith's member, rubbing slowly over each bump in turn. "Don't you think so, Shiro?"

Shiro made a neutral noise, his eyes on Lance's hand as it traced down Keith's cock. "What's it feel like?"

"Like a _dick_ , Shiro," Lance snorted. He looked up at him, and his slightly concerned face threw Lance for a moment. Keith's eyes darted between them and Lance rolled his eyes, leaning forward to capture Shiro's left hand with his own and tugging it toward Keith's exposed dick. "Feel it for yourself."

Keith's eyes went wide, and then his expression went slightly slack as there were now _two_  hands on him that weren't his own. Shiro's fingers traced the underside of his dick, catching on the ridges and tugging on them slightly, while Lance softly stroked the top. He was watching Keith's face, while Shiro was paying more attention to what their hands were doing. "You good?" Lance asked softly, and Keith's eyes darted to his. He nodded, a little too quickly, and Lance chuckled, lifting his hand and leaving Shiro to explore Keith's dick for himself. "Then, I think you're still wearing too many clothes for this."

 

#

 

Getting Keith the rest of the way naked was actually easier than he anticipated. Once freed of his clothing, Lance pushed Keith back on the bed and surveyed him, while Shiro slowly shucked off his shirt. Keith's attention was clearly torn; watching Shiro undress, especially _intentionally_  slow, was definitely of interest ... but his eyes kept being drawn back to Lance, and Lance damn well knew why. Naked now, the stink of his heat was overwhelming, and his slick glistened slightly on his inner thighs. The way his scent prickled at Lance's skin like a living thing was driving him out of his _head._

This had to be his Galra blood causing it, because even Shiro's heats had never driven him nearly mindless before.

As if he had sensed Lance's thoughts, Shiro's hand draped heavy and warm over his shoulder, and he nuzzled the side of Lance's face. "You okay?" he asked, soft, although Lance was certain Keith and his freaky Galra abilities could hear him just fine.

"I'm good," Lance croaked, and wet his lips. "It's _differen_  than your heat ... and it's getting worse." He turned his face into Shiro's, and Shiro kissed him tentatively, slow; like he did when they were going to make love and not just fuck. Lance was painfully aware of their audience though, and broke off the kiss early, turning his head to look at Keith watching them.

His expression was strangely mournful, and it caught on Lance's heartstrings and tugged. "You," Shiro murmured, having not let Lance go, "are also wearing too many clothes." He caught his fingers on the fabric of Lance's shirt, and Lance looked at him and then, obediently, raised his arms. Shiro tugged his shirt off over his head and dropped it with Keith's discarded clothes, and then when Lance lowered his hands to the waistband of his jeans Shiro smacked his hands away.

" _Shiro_ ," Lance said.

"Allow me," Shiro murmured, slipping his fingers into the waist of his jeans. Lance paused, and started to flush as Shiro popped the button on his fly.

Keith sat up on his elbows and watched them with unconcealed interest as Shiro slowly tugged Lance's pants down, and then his boxers. His underwear was a sticky mess, no surprise to Lance as he'd been hard since lunch; but Shiro took Lance's cock in hand and slid his palm down its length, hesitating near the root where his knot would swell. "How many do you have in you today?" Shiro murmured, and Lance's flush turned dark, but before he could protest Shiro was on his knees in front of him, and Keith flung himself into a sitting position to get a better vantage point, eyes wide.

Lance exhaled slowly, savoring the hot puff of Shiro's breath against his sensitive skin. Shiro didn't suck him that often, _he_  was the one with the oral fixation, but when Shiro did tend to him like this he was slow about it and liked to take his time unraveling Lance. He put his hand on Shiro's head, fingers carding through the short, dark hair, and he said softly, "not too much, Takashi."

"Yes, sir," Shiro rumbled with a smirk, and swallowed him down.

Lance couldn't keep track of Keith with Shiro's mouth on him, because the hot velvety slide of his cheeks and the heavy weight of his tongue pressing along the underside of his dick kept his attention squarely on Shiro. " _Fuck_ ," Lance grunted as Shiro took him in deep.

Shiro suckled at the head of his cock, tongue sweeping around and under the glans, fingers clenched tight around the base. It was _Keith_ , not Lance, who made a low whimpering sound and Lance didn't look up until the scent grew thick in the air and he realized, head jerking up to see Keith smearing white fluid across his belly contentedly. "Did you just _come_?" Lance hissed, his hand still tight on Shiro's head.

Keith let out a satisfied noise and looked up, meeting Lance's eye as he put two of his fingers into his mouth and licked them clean. "Holy shit," Lance groaned, and Shiro released him, mouth sliding off of Lance's dick with a small pop. He glanced over his shoulder at Keith, to see what was distracting Lance and snorted, before patting Lance's hip and backing off. Without a word, Shiro climbed into the bed with Keith and pulled Keith's fingers from his mouth before sucking them into his own.

Yeah. Simple. This was simple, Lance repeated to himself as Keith bucked against Shiro's body, one hand finding the back of Shiro's head and pulling him down into a desperate kiss. Shiro threw his leg over Keith and straddled him, kissing him back with the fury and passion that was usually reserved for Lance. "Hey, I thought _you_  were supposed to be the jealous one," Lance said as he climbed into the bed beside them.

"It's just sex," Shiro panted, popping the button on his own pants. Keith let out a low, hungry noise when the tip of Shiro's cock peeked out, and without hesitation Shiro pulled it all the way free. He carefully fed his cock to Keith, who opened his mouth all the way for him. Shiro cradled the back of Keith's head with his hand as Keith swallowed down a frankly impressive amount of Shiro's length without even the slightest look of discomfort. " _Damn,_ Keith," Shiro hissed, rocking his hips glacially slow, face-fucking Keith right in front of Lance.

Lance took the opportunity to remove his shoes and wriggle the rest of the way out of his clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor as well. "Don't suffocate him," Lance scolded Shiro, and Shiro turned his head slightly, the white forelock of hair falling squarely between his eyes.

"Keith isn't you, he won't choke out on my dick," Shiro said, his voice thick, and Lance laughed as Keith moaned around Shiro's girth. He pushed Shiro's shoulder lightly.

"C'mon," Lance said. "You can keep having him suck you off if you want but stop pinning him to the bed, I want to eat him out." That provoked another moan from Keith, deeper and more vibrant and that made Shiro grunt before slowly extracting himself from Keith's mouth and, with great regret, rolling off his chest. Keith flopped all the way back flat on the bed, mouth still open and a slightly glazed expression dominating his face. "Yeah, yeah," Lance said, leaning over him, his weight all on one arm. "Shiro's dick is king, we know."

"I want him inside me," Keith said dazedly, voice gone hoarse, and Lance closed Keith's mouth with two fingers under his chin.

"It's amazing when he's inside," Lance said, voice soft, his eyes going from Keith's to Shiro's. Shiro had, like Lance, taken the opportunity to remove his boots and pants as well, and with his legs slung over the edge of the bed he looked up to meet Lance's eye as he spoke. "He's so big, and you feel so _full_. It's the best feeling ever, there's nothing else like it." Lance shivered, and then looked down at Keith. "Maybe later," he said, thoughtfully, and leaned over Keith, scenting him.

Keith reached up and caught Lance by the back of the head, pulling him down and crushing his mouth to Lance's. There was a split-second of actual confusion for Lance, because his experience getting kissed, aside from Shiro, was sadly limited - but after that moment his confidence returned and he kissed back as hard as Keith demanded it, tasting the residue of Shiro's cock still on Keith's tongue. There weren't words running through Lance's mind any longer, just a roll call of primitive imperatives - turn the omega over, open him, knot him, _claim him_  - and Keith moaned into his mouth, submitting to him without a fight.

Lance pushed Keith back into the bed, one hand sliding down Keith's chest and resting on the curve of his pectoral, thumb rubbing the nub of his nipple in a tight circle. Keith's groan shifted into a high-pitched yelp, but Lance didn't stop kissing him, toying with Keith's nipple until his hips surged off the bed.

"Sensitive," Lance said when he lifted his head finally, but instead of resuming kissing Keith he moved his mouth lower, attaching over Keith's other nipple and catching the nub with his teeth. Keith's vocalizations went from a low moan to a high-pitched keen, which cut off abruptly when Shiro devoured his mouth, catching Keith's face in one hand.

Lance lifted his head and watched Shiro kissing Keith, before resuming his attention on Keith's chest, remembering exactly how sensitive Shiro got on his heats and applying that knowledge to Keith. Keith squirmed under his hands, but Shiro wouldn't let him up for air until Keith broke away gasping, arching from the bed and clawing desperately for Lance's head. "You," he panted, as Shiro ran his thumb over Keith's bruised and swollen lower lip, "aren't supposed to actually be _good_  at _this._ "

Lance tweaked Keith's nipple again, eyebrow quirked, and then cast his glance to Shiro, who looked amused. "Who do you think he learned that from?" Shiro murmured.

"Okay," Lance said, pushing himself up. He had Keith by the hip, and he tugged him up, off the bed as well. "You are driving me _insane_ , Keith, do you have any idea how good you smell?" Shiro shuffled out of the way, sitting back and leaning against the wall that the bed was set into, legs spread. Lance glanced at him, frowned, and then surveyed the bed.

It was the same size as the one that he and Shiro shared - and that meant that there was plenty of opportunity to accidentally go overboard during sex - as he could well attest. "Maybe against the headboard," he suggested to Shiro, who was looking around the bed with the same realization.

There was a comedic amount of shuffling as they situated themselves; Shiro settling with his back against the headboard. Keith remained dazed, letting Lance manhandle him without complaint, and Lance made a mental note to remember this. Keith being tame and compliant was turning him on _big_  time, and he was already so hard that he hurt. "All right," Lance said, releasing Keith's arm. "Go choke yourself on his dick, I know you're salivating for it."

Keith wet his lips. "Keep your hips up," Lance ordered, and Keith crawled forward on his hands and knees until he settled up on his elbows between Shiro's spread legs, eye-level with his dick. Lance watched as Keith considered it, and then crawled in closer. He looked up at Shiro, and Shiro was watching Keith intently. Lance shook his head in amusement, sliding his hands down Keith's back and settling them on his hips, pulling them back to Keith's ass.

The scent that had been tormenting him for days was centered here. Keith's rear and inner thighs were shiny and wet with the slick fluid leaking from him; and here, Lance finally hesitated. Shiro and Keith both didn't notice his hesitation, preoccupied as they were, and Lance sat back on his haunches and swallowed hard.

He'd never done _this_  with anyone other than Shiro.

Okay, Lance talked a big game. He always had, flirt hard play hard, but he'd only presented as an alpha recently, triggered specifically by Shiro's heat and need. Shiro was his mate, _his_  omega ... and this felt weird. He chewed the inside of his cheek and pulled at the hard muscle of Keith's ass, exposing his gleaming hole. Keith made a small, choked-off noise but didn't look back at him, and Lance sighed, running his finger around Keith's hole.

He was going to fuck Keith. Right here. Lance looked up and realized that now, Shiro was watching him and his hesitation. Lance chewed on his bottom lip, meeting Shiro's eye squarely. Then, Shiro tilted his head, smiled soft and said, "make him feel good, Lance. Like you make me."

Lance nodded his head, and looked back down at Keith's hole. He pressed his thumb in, slow, and felt Keith tremble around the intrusion ... but there was no resistance. "You don't got any Galra surprises waiting in here, right?" Lance said, mostly teasing, as the tip of his thumb caught at Keith's rim and tugged, before slipping free.

" _Fuck_ ," Keith said, mouth obviously clear. "No, not that I-" he shifted and grunted, followed by a short moan as Lance replaced his thumb with two fingers, pushing in deeper. Keith shuddered and stopped entirely, and Shiro rubbed his shoulder encouragingly as Lance pushed his fingers in again, spreading them to test his resistance. He was slick and wet and hot, and while tight, there was plenty of give to him. He didn't let out any noises nor give any indication of pain, even when Lance spread his fingers as far as they would go.

"Damn," Lance said, impressed. He pulled his fingers free and immediately put them to his lips, devouring Keith's musky taste whole. It was a different taste than Shiro's, a different tang to his need, but it reacted in his belly all the same. His cock was sitting up hard against his stomach and Lance ran his hand down to it, pumping it once. He could already feel the firm gland inflating near the base, and knew that he didn't have much time before it would grow too large for him to slip inside easily. "You ready for this, Keith?"

There was a long moment of stretched silence, as Keith hung his head low, face shadowed from Shiro. "Keith?" Shiro asked softly, hand still encouragingly on his shoulder, and then Keith let out a low, hungry noise full of need. "Just do it already," Keith said, voice gone raw.

That was honestly all the permission that Lance needed. He pulled back slightly, looking over Keith's hole one last time before pressing the head of his cock to it. There was a brief moment of resistance before he slipped right in, hot and wet and tight and the noise that Keith made was a low, desperate keen as Lance slid home. There was another catch of resistance at the slight swell of his knot, and when Lance pushed forward and it breached he could _feel_  Keith's full body shudder at the knowledge of what just sank into his body. Lance held himself perfectly still, sliding his hands down Keith's back as he just experienced the heat of him, walls constricting close, and Lance made himself look to Shiro.

He was inside another omega right now, and Shiro met his eye and there was no judgment, no hatred, nothing that Lance had feared all this time. He swallowed hard, overwhelmed by the emotion of it, and Shiro leaned forward, pressing his hand into Lance's shoulder and pulling him forward. They were just barely too far apart to kiss, but Shiro's face was close, and he said in that voice that set every one of Lance's nerve endings alight, "make him feel _good_ , babe."

Lance exhaled, and squeezed Keith's hips. "You know I will."

 

#

 

Keith was noisy as _hell._

Lance groaned, knowing that he was leaving bruises behind on Keith's hips but not really caring in the moment because every time he slowed his pace or shifted his weight Keith would immediately start whining. He begged for it hard, wanted Lance deep, and Lance was going to make Keith come again with just his dick in his ass, hands-free. Keith clung to Shiro's thighs, and Shiro's cock rested against his cheek; he'd all but forgotten that he was supposed to be sucking it, concentrated instead on the feeling of Lance deep inside him.

For his part, Lance was still working out the best angle for Keith. He was different than Shiro, Lance knew exactly how to thrust to create the right sort of friction to drive Shiro out of his mind, how to best angle himself so that his knot pressed constantly against his gland; but Keith was a whole new ballgame and he didn't have the right experience for it yet. He must be doing _something_  right thought, as Keith was sobbing a symphony into Shiro's skin, and Shiro was gently petting his head and combing his fingers through the dark tangle of Keith's hair. Every so often he would lean forward and murmur words of quiet encouragement, and then Keith would tighten on Lance, creating even more friction and heat.

He was close. Lance exhaled, pushing in as deep as he could get, body flush with Keith's and felt how his walls tensed and contracted, feeling out the shape of Lance's cock inside him. Slick had stopped leaking out from around his cock, his knot grown enough that it plugged most of it in, and he knew it was almost too big to be pulled free. It was time. "Shiro," Lance panted, meeting Shiro's eyes again. "I'm gonna, gonna knot..."

"It's all right," Shiro said, his eyes on the top of Keith's head but his tone this time for Lance. "He needs this." There was a moment's pause, and then he lifted his gaze to Lance. "I know you love me," he grinned, razor-sharp, "and if you do this to anyone else, you know I'll kill you."

Lance bit his lip and groaned and came inside. There was a _wealth_  there to unpack but he didn't have the mind for it, brain leaking slightly out his ears at the force of his orgasm; Keith let out a stifled _wail_  at the sensation of Lance stuffing him full of seed. He came again with Lance, and Lance remembered a reach-around this time, closing his hand on Keith's cock and stroking hard, pressing the ridges flat and making Keith absolutely mindless with the sensation. He held onto Keith's cock through his orgasm, feeling it pulse as it pumped out seed into the sheets below, and he laughed wildly, kissing the back of Keith's neck and feeling the temptation to sink his teeth in there, to leave his mark.

He wouldn't.

"Does Allura like it when you come inside?" he asked breathless, still stroking Keith's too-sensitive cock. "Does her body beg you for it like yours did mine?"

"Lance," Shiro said, huskily.

" _God_ ," Keith's voice hitched, he was on the edge of a sob. "It's getting _bigger._ "

Lance shifted his weight slightly, bracing himself on Keith's back and dragging his growing knot along Keith's insides. He was looking for the gland, trying to find the best angle for it when Keith nearly _screamed_ , thrashing in Shiro's lap. Lance grinned sharply and stopped moving as Keith's body rapidly constricted around his knot, finding the spot where it was all Too Much. "That's my knot," Lance said. "Feel it? This is what it's like to be knotted." He shifted just a little, dragging the pressure away from his gland before returning it. "This is what it's like to be fucked by an alpha."

Keith was gone now, incoherent, and Shiro laughed, brushing his fingers through Keith's hair as Lance held Keith still. "He's out of his mind with it," Shiro said. He gave Lance a measured look. "How come you never talk at _me_  like that when we're in bed?"

Lance chewed on his lip, chest heaving as he slowly came off the exertion high. "You want me to?" he said, puzzled.

Shiro tilted his head thoughtfully. "It's really hot when you let your alpha confidence shine through, Lance," he said, smirking. Lance flushed a dark red, deeper than his his flush of exertion. Shiro shifted a little and groaned, stroking his own cock slowly. He nudged the head against Keith's cheek but Keith was still panting and glassy-eyed. "I never get like this when you fuck me though, Keith _really_  needed it."

"That's because you have me all the time," Lance hummed, rocking slightly and making Keith grunt. "You can get this on the daily."

"Not your knot, though," Shiro said, eyes locked with Lance.

"After it goes down," Lance said. "I'm sure I have another in me, if you give me a bit." He inhaled deep, Keith's scent had shifted, slightly - it hadn't entirely faded, but he could tell that Keith was satiated, and it was beginning to reside. They had been _right_ , whatever weirdness originated in his Galra blood in regards to his heat all he really needed was a good fucking. Lance leaned forward and put his elbows on Keith's ass and his chin in his hands, giving Shiro what he hoped was a sultry grin. "Do you need my knot today too, Takashi?"

Shiro stared at him deadass in the eye. "You look ridiculous."

Lance shrugged. "I'm stuck here until my knot goes down." He moved his hips the little bit that he could again and hissed. "He's so fucking _tight_ , it's so good." He patted Keith's lower back. "You hear that, Keith? You're damn _fine._ " When there was no response he chuckled, clearly proud. "I fucked him stupid."

"I may have helped a little." Shiro was focused down on himself again, stroking his cock slowly and watching Keith's face, gone slack with bliss.

"Only a little," Lance snorted. Shiro looked up at him, and Lance pointed to his mouth. "You wanna use?"

This time it was Shiro who bit his lower lip, clearly conflicted. He came to a decision quickly, though, and shifted Keith gently off his thigh, climbing to his knees on the mattress. Lance grinned as Shiro delicately stepped over Keith, trying to maneuver on the tight confines of Keith's bed. "Probably better if you were standing, anyway," Lance commented, as Shiro put his back to the wall.

"This is a bad idea," Shiro grunted, digging his heels into the bed as Lance gripped Keith's hips tighter, shuffling them slightly so that he could rise higher on his knees. The action made Keith spasm and clench again, scrabbling for Shiro - who was no longer there. Keith's fingers closed on his pillow, and he dragged it to his face, moaning hard.

"Keith's fine," Lance said, and patted Keith's side. "Aren't you?"

After a long pause, Keith raised his hand, but instead of the tentative thumbs-up Lance was expecting, he flipped Lance off. "Yeah, he's good," Lance reported.

"I'm not worried about Keith," Shiro's hand was large on the back of Lance's head. Lance turned and wet his lips, cocking his head back to look up at Shiro as Shiro's prosthetic fingers scratched through his short brown hair. He smiled at Shiro and put one hand on Shiro's thigh, watching him balance unsteadily and slowly stroke his cock with his left hand.

"You're sweet," Lance murmured, cheeks flushed and pleased. "I love you."

"Me too," Shiro responded.

It took a little more shuffling to get them all positioned in a manner where it would work, but somehow Shiro managed it. He pulled Lance to him, gently, and Lance took over stroking Shiro's fat cock, still slick with Keith's spit. "I can't take you all," he said, "but you can totally fuck my mouth."

Shiro grunted as Lance opened his mouth, sucking the head of Shiro's cock in. It was good, and familiar - it smelled just right, the scent of his mate's musk and need. Lance relaxed his mouth as much as he could, exhaling through his nose as Shiro's other hand also cradled his head, holding him still as Shiro began to tentatively thrust.

He couldn't go in far, and he was slow and careful, but Lance somehow kept his mouth as slack as he could. He couldn't open his throat like Keith apparently could, but damn could he _suck_ , and suck he did, letting his tongue run along the bottom of Shiro's cock as he thrust it in and out of Lance's mouth.

He'd never been used like this before, having his mouth fucked while his knot was being milked and _oh_ , it was heady. Lance quickly forgot how to breathe like he had the first time he'd let Shiro do this to him, and he choked on his own spit. Shiro withdrew as Lance coughed, gasping for air, and his hands immediately went to Lance's back, thumping him as he choked. "Lance! I _knew_  that this was a bad idea..."

"Put your cock in my ass," Lance gasped, when he could get the words out and Shiro froze mid-thump, eyes wide. Lance's expression had shifted and he knew it had, the fact that he was pinned, knotted, and had nowhere to go was setting every nerve _alight._  " _Use me, Takashi._ "

"Oh," Shiro's voice almost cracked at the thought of it. Lance leaned forward and spread his knees, lowering Keith even more. Keith groaned but didn't raise his head. " _Really?_ " Shiro's voice had gone sideways on him, which was endearingly cute. " _Now?_ "

"Before my knot goes down," Lance said, his own voice strangled.

"We don't ... we didn't bring any lube," Shiro cast around, but hadn't thought to bring any because this was all about Keith, knotting Keith, an omega in heat and they virtually never required lube in the first place ... if anything, they usually required more _towels._

"Drawer," Keith's voice was unexpected, and Shiro looked at the back of his head, still mostly buried in the pillow. "Under the bed."

Lance leaned forward and kissed Keith's back, between his shoulder blades. "Allura likes to play, huh?"

"Shut up, Lance," Keith sounded like he'd been hit by a cement truck, and his voice was honestly even hotter like this, deep and gravelly.

"Yeah, tell the one who fucked you stupid to shut up," Lance said smugly, as Shiro resurfaced from over the side of the bed triumphant, with a tube of what was most likely lube, although the packaging bore characters alien to both of them. Lance glanced down at it and hissed when Shiro put it in the sheets next to his leg, and then looked back as Shiro climbed back onto the bed proper, this time behind Lance. "Can't wait to have you in me, babe."

"I know, I know," Shiro kissed the side of his neck, and then his shoulder. "Gotta go slow though, you're not like me."

"Don't want slow," Lance was beginning to lose grip on his reality at the thought of this actually happening. "Want _you_."

Shiro's prosthetic was warmer than most people anticipated, made to make people forget that the limb was false. It wasn't as warm as his human hand though, the heat of an oven compared to the prosthetic, but it felt natural enough sliding down his back and to his ass, and then down along his cleft.

Lance didn't get wet, he was an alpha, he simply didn't have the gland for it. Some of Keith's slick coated his inner thighs, having squelched free during their frantic coupling, and his balls were gleaming with the fluid. Shiro ran his hand up and down the inside of Lance's thighs, collecting what slick he could on his fingers. "It's hotter if we use this," Shiro murmured, rubbing his glistening fingers over and around Lance's hole.

"Won't be enough," Lance whispered.

"It's a start," Shiro said, and kissed his shoulder again as he pressed one slick finger against Lance's rim. He shuddered hard when Shiro got his finger in, but he was dry and the friction was bad. He gritted his teeth and hung his head, and Shiro uncapped the lube with his other hand. "A slow start, but a start."

 

# 

 

It took a little while to prepare Lance. He was snappy at first as he always was, but his quips died down as Shiro worked his fingers in, broad and warm, pressing the lube up inside him. Lance closed his eyes and groaned, remembering how it felt the first time they did this, Shiro's heat barely in their rear window and their relationship just blossoming. It had _hurt_ , Shiro was bigger than he was, but the look of open, naked adoration in Shiro's eyes when Lance took his entire cock would fuel Lance for the rest of his life.

It didn't hurt as much, the next time. And now, after the stretch and burn of intrusion, it felt like the best damn thing that had ever happened to him. Shiro's prosthetic hand crept up his back, to his neck, and held him still as he pulled his fingers from Lance. "Ready?" he said, and Lance tilted his head forward as much as Shiro would allow, mouth held open and panting. He could feel his heartbeat in his dick right now, his knot throbbing, and when he felt Shiro's' cockhead push against him, trying to gain entrance, he felt like he was going to explode.

Shiro worked himself in slow, adding lube liberally and making a mess out of Lance as he did so. Lance was too far gone now to even think, he just held on to Keith punishingly tight and quivered in place as Shiro sank into him. He was trapped, he had nowhere to go if he decided he didn't want this, if he decided he wanted Shiro off him he couldn't, and that feeling of vulnerability turned him on so much that he couldn't even breathe. "Shiro," Lance panted, as he felt Shiro press his chest to Lance's back. "God, _fuck-_ "

"You good?" Shiro asked, his voice a hot breath of air across the shell of Lance's ear.

" _Fuck,_ " Lance wanted to sob but he couldn't form the reflex correctly, he was overwhelmed beyond reason. He couldn't think or focus or make anything work the way he wanted to; Lance was pinned in place. Keith's body held him, cradled him, squeezing around his cock and his knot and milking every last drop of his seed; and now Shiro had claimed him, entered him, _marked_  him as his own. When Shiro pulled back, his cock dragging to the point that it was almost free, Lance knew he wasn't going to last.

Shiro slammed home and Lance nearly whited out from the pleasure of it. His hips jerked forward he he faintly heard Keith scream as his knot thrust deep. Or maybe that was Lance's own scream that tore from his throat, he had no idea - all he knew was that he had one hand splayed flat on the curve of Keith's ass and the other was gripping Shiro's left forearm tight enough to draw blood.  

"Again?" Shiro asked, and Lance would have cursed his amusement if he'd had the breath.

He didn't remember much else, until he felt Shiro's hand on the back of his head, and Shiro's lips on his neck. "Goddamn, Lance," Shiro said, and his voice was hoarse. "Did you just come again?"

 _Did_  he? He couldn't even tell, slumped across Keith's back, body twitching still. He couldn't have, his knot would have prevented another ejaculation, but he was so fuzzy and felt so good it sure as hell _felt_  like he'd come again. "Don't think so," he slurred, and realizing that Keith was panting underneath him he tried to push himself up off of Keith, but his arms felt like they had been pasted on with sellotape. After a moment of watching him struggle Shiro looped his arm around Lance's chest and lifted him upright, and - oh, he was still inside Lance too, his cock thick and hard. "Have you not come yet?" Lance said, the shiver delicious as he realized that Shiro wasn't through using him.

"Not even close," Shiro said, and he _laughed._  "Barely a few thrusts and you were gone, man, this must really do it for you. I'm gonna have to remember that."

Leaned back against Shiro, Lance exhaled noisily. Shiro slid his hand down from Lance's throat to his chest, and then lower still, slowly framing where his cock disappeared into Keith's ass. He pulled at it, gently, and Lance slid a little out, his knot catching on Keith's rim. " _Fuck_ ," Keith gasped, and Shiro stopped.

"Sorry," Shiro murmured, rubbing Keith's ass. "Guess it hasn't been long enough, yet."

Keith shifted under them, as much as he could, and rolled onto his shoulder so that he could look back at them. He shot Shiro a withering look and Shiro had the gall to laugh again. "I thought you were gonna pound _my_  ass," Keith said, petulantly, and Shiro stopped chuckling.

"Maybe another time," Shiro said, slowly, and Lance put his hand on Shiro's arm and squeezed. _Another time_  had never played into this before now. _Another time_  begged another discussion, when the rush of sex and hormones had subsided. _Another time_  meant Lance watching Shiro slam Keith into the bed and make him beg for his cock and being front row to him getting absolutely _demolished._

__Holy shit._ _

Lance squirmed back against Shiro and pulled at Keith again. His knot was starting to go down; he would be able to slip it out soon. "Please, please," he grunted, and tugged at Keith again. Keith hissed and squirmed, trying to pull away ... and with a sloppy noise, Lance's cock finally popped free. The noise of relief from Keith was palpable, and after a few seconds fluid began leaking from his puffy hole, a mixture of his clear slick and Lance's seed, churned into froth.

"God damn," Shiro said appreciatively, chin hooked over Lance's shoulder. "Would you look at that." He pressed his thumb into the meat of Keith's ass, keeping him spread so that he could watch the display, enthralled.

"Is it that different from mine?" Lance asked, rubbing his worn and slightly soft dick.

"Not so much," Shiro murmured. "But it's different because _you_  did this to him." He slid a finger into Keith and watched his hole try to desperately close around it. "Incredible."

Keith tried to get his arms and legs under himself again and mostly failed. He rolled finally, and Shiro pulled his hand free; watching Keith attempt to sit up and realizing with a startled expression that no, he wasn't going to be sitting all the way up immediately. His face was red and splotchy, and Lance laughed weakly. "So good you cried, samurai?"

"Shut up," Keith grunted, and swiped the back of his hand over his face. He was still flushed red though, and he looked away. "Thank you."

"Head feels clearer, doesn't it?" Shiro said softly, and Keith looked at him, surprised. "It doesn't always last, on your heat ... but that clarity after makes you feel like all the stuffing was pulled out of your head and you can think for the first time in days."

"Yeah..." Keith said, looking down at his hands braced apart on the bed. "It's like surfacing from being under water." He tried again to lever himself upright, and made it this time, although when he settled his weight to sit the most _stricken_  look passed his features and he froze.

Shiro looped his other arm under Lance's, resting his palm on Lance's chest. He'd sunk all the way down Shiro's cock now, and knew he was the one who looked slightly glazed. Shiro continued to talk to Keith conversationally, as if Lance wasn't sitting directly on his cock. "I know," Shiro said. "Doesn't look that big, but boy do you feel it after." He jogged Lance on his lap and Lance gasped, his back arching. "I've got your revenge right here, though."

He may not have a knot, but damn Shiro's cock was good. Keith watched as Shiro pulled all the way out, and then pushed Lance into the wall that the bed was set into. Lance slid a little, bending almost double as Shiro pushed into him again, pressing him into the wall and then shoving his knees to his chest. "Hold," Shiro instructed, as Lance looped his hands around Shiro's neck, his fingertips brushing over the dark, scarred-over impression of Lance's teeth.

Panting, Lance tilted his forehead against Shiro's, and Shiro kissed him, watching him intently as he slid home for the second time. This time was much easier, he was lubed and ready and Lance all but melted around him, fingers digging into the solid muscle at the back of Shiro's neck and knees hooked over his shoulders. Keith watched with wide eyes as Shiro pounded him right there, making Lance scream and sob and beg, cock bouncing back against his belly, halfway to hard with the knot still visible. "Shiro, _Shiro-_ " Lance hiccuped, his name a mantra, a _prayer_  - until that point where Shiro locked his jaw, letting a strangled noise through his teeth and slammed in once, twice ... and stilled, panting hard, sweat dripping down his face.

Lance had gone completely slack, toes that were once curled gone limp. "Holy shit," Keith said, as Shiro gathered Lance into his arms, cock sliding free. Lance's head lolled back, passed out, and Shiro chuckled wearily, kissing his forehead. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Shiro said, laying Lance against him on the bed. "He just knotted you and I think he climaxed twice with me and both of those were dry." He rubbed Lance's shoulder affectionately. "In a manner of speaking."

Keith shifted, and then winced again. "You're welcome to stay," he offered, after a moment.

Shiro looked down at Lance, expression slack with exhaustion, and combed his fingers through Lance's hair before looking back up at Keith. "I think we're going to need some clean sheets if we're going to sleep here," he said, and Keith shifted again, rising up on his knees and revealing a large damp spot where he had been sitting.

"Yeah," Keith said. "No kidding."

 

#

 

Lance woke exhausted. _That isn't fair,_  he thought blearily, refusing at first to open his eyes. He could feel Shiro's warmth tucked in behind him, his presence and scent comforting. He had his left arm resting securely over Lance's waist, but ... there was more, warmth in front of him too, warmth and soft and unfamiliar scent in his bed, someone's head tucked against his chest, crown of hair just beneath Lance's chin. He opened his eyes and squinted, looking down at an unfathomable mess of dark hair in his confusion.

Then the scent resolved itself, familiar and blinding.

_Keith._

Shiro and Lance weren't in their bed. They were in _Keith's_  bed.

Lance opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again. He had one arm tucked under his head but the other, he realized, was draped over Keith's shoulder, hand dangling off behind his neck. He shifted a little but didn't remove his hand, looking down at Keith thoughtfully. He'd knotted Keith, which was just about the most intimate thing an alpha could do with an omega, save for the bond that was created when an omega was claimed.

Shiro was his first. But Keith, now ... Keith was his second.

He took a deep breath in and held it, before releasing and relaxing back against Shiro. It wasn't cheating when it was done with the full knowledge and consent (and enthusiastic participation!) of his mate, but Lance still felt a little weird about it. It had been good, and fun, but this wasn't a permanent arrangement by a wide margin. He didn't even know if he'd want to do it again ... except the memory of being pinned in place by his knot and taken made his cock twitch against his leg. "Oh," Lance grunted, voice barely above a whisper. "Don't you even _start._ "

Shiro made a soft noise, an inquisitive rumble and Lance realized that he was awake. He tilted his head back slightly again, and Shiro rubbed his face against the back of Lance's head, kissing his hair. "Welcome back," Shiro said, his voice that particular mix of sleep-worn and husky that it always acquired after a particularly good romp.

"Damn," Lance murmured. "You fucking destroyed my ass, Shiro."

"It's a fine ass," Shiro said in return, squeezing Lance's hip. "You know I can't help it."

Lance smiled drowsily, flushing a pleased pink color and wiggling back against Shiro again. He was warm and comfortable here between Shiro and Keith, and he didn't really _want_  to move except that he knew despite the fresh smell of the sheets they were buried in, there was cleanup to be had. The longer it waited, the worse it would be.

And then a thought occurred to him, for perhaps the first time.

Shiro was infertile. Pidge had confirmed that after she got done kicking Lance's ass for claiming Shiro during his first rut after presenting as an alpha ... and that meant that they didn't have to stress, that they could have as much fun as they wanted during Shiro's heats without having to worry about any potential consequences. There was a small nugget of sorrow in there, something Lance hadn't expected from himself - knowing that he'd chosen his mate but that there would never be children. They were young yet, and it wasn't something to even think about for a good, long while (they were in the middle of a war after all) but Lance _had_  planned on starting a family, one day.

He had already processed this and moved on from it without even commenting to Shiro because he had seen the look in Shiro's eyes when Pidge gave him the results, he saw the way that Shiro had looked at Lance so quickly and looked away, and realized that this trauma was just another of many bestowed upon him by the Galra. Lance refused to add to that.

So it wasn't something he'd thought on at all for months. And now, with Shiro rubbing his hip and murmuring sleepy nothings into the back of his neck, Lance realized that he'd just knotted a fertile omega in heat without protection. He'd _bred_  Keith.

Oh, _fuck_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Art by @StickyPeppers:](https://twitter.com/StickyPeppers/status/1081633645314564096)


	3. Chapter 3

Lance wasn't about to let Shiro carry him to the showers like he threatened when Keith was standing on his own, albeit slightly unsteadily. "Go," Lance smacked at Shiro. "You're the only one of us who doesn't have to clean out, you're on replenishment."

Keith watched the door to his room close behind Shiro, and then looked to Lance. "You do realize you just sent Shiro to cook for us."

"It's him or Coran," Lance reminded Keith, and Keith shrugged. He sighed, sitting naked still on the edge of Keith's bed and watching Keith putter around, picking through the clothes on the floor for something somewhat decent to wear down the hall and toward the head. Lance honestly was all for just bare-assing it there but Keith had reminded him that even if Pidge and Allura were off the ship for the moment, they both tended to look at shipboard computer logs.

"So? Pidge has already seen my ass every way from Sunday," Lance said, unimpressed, and Keith chose not to respond to that.

Shiro hadn't really said much when they'd finally roused. It was late, according to the ship's internal chronometer - Shiro was intent on fixing a late-night snack and then adjourning to get a proper night's sleep. He had kissed Lance - properly this time, the way he did when they woke up together in the mornings ... but he'd also kissed the side of Keith's head as well. Keith had flushed hot and looked away, clearly uncomfortable with the display of affection.

With Shiro gone now, though, they could talk. "Well," Lance said, watching as Keith gave up the hunt for a clean pair of clothes and just pulled on his damp and soiled pants, underwear clearly an afterthought. "Now what?

Keith hesitated, looking at Lance. Then he finished pulling his pants up, tucking himself away and zipping up. Soft, his dick wasn't as angry purple as it had been, although the ridges were still evident. "I don't know," he said finally. "Maybe we just forget this whole thing happened?"

That stung a little bit, because the whole thing had been _excellent_ , if you wanted Lance's very high opinion of it. "If that's what you want," Lance said, a little stiffly. Then he sighed, elbows resting on his knees. "If you need help the next time your heat gets like this, though, don't hesitate to ask, okay? I'll help you out anytime."

Keith froze in place again, this time caught in the act of pulling on a shirt. He lowered his arms, shirt still on them, and gave Lance a long, scrutinizing look. "Why?"

"Why?" That reaction puzzled Lance.

"Yeah. Why would you help me with this?"

He blinked, stunned. "Because ... I'm your friend?" he said. "I have something that you need to feel better, it would be, I don't know, _cruel_  to hold that back?" He shrugged loosely. "Obviously you don't need any help with your regular heats but this Galra nonsense is different and I don't figure it'll happen that often anyway. Besides," he added, watching Keith put his shirt on, tugging it over his head. "It's not like there's nothing in it for me too, this was fun as hell and don't you deny it."

Keith looked at him. "It's not going to happen again," he said with confidence.

"Yeah," Lance said, watching Keith leave the room. "Says you."

 

#

 

He followed Keith to the shower, not entirely intentionally but because Shiro's seed was still leaking from him and he wasn't going to wait Keith's shower out to deal with it, awkwardness be damned. Keith shot him a dirty look when Lance sidled into the stall next to his, but Lance ignored him completely and took care of cleaning himself, both inside and out.

While he was drying his hair off in the small locker room, he cast a look at Keith, getting dressed again in clean clothes, now. "Look," he said, and Keith looked to him instinctively, having been addressed. "You're on birth control, right?"

There was a long, long pause as Keith considered this. Then, he shook his head. "Nope."

Well, there went the last of Lance's peace of mind. "What the _fuck,_ " he almost yelled, and his sudden volume startled Keith to his feet. "We didn't use any protection, you dumbass! What the fuck were you _thinking!?"_

"Protection from what?" Keith asked, and Lance just stared at him, slack-jawed.

"From... _what..._?" he repeated dumbly because there was no way in the entire universe that Keith could be _that_  dense.

"Holy shit, Lance, I was _kidding_ ," Keith folded his arms. "Allura and I use protection just in case, Alteans and Galra are really versatile species."

"Okay, that's well and good and thank you for that insight into your sex lives," Lance said, "but you and _I_  just fucked and _we fucking didn't._ " Lance's heart was beating hard against his ribs. "You're in _heat_ , dude, that means you're fertile and I fucking _knotted you_. I am _not_  ready to be a father."

Keith paled at that. "Shit," he said, and sat back down. "I didn't even think about it."

"Yeah no shit, neither did I."

Keith stared at his feet. "What do we do now?"

"I have _no_  idea," Lance said, also seated, but he did have an idea and he groaned because, fuck. "We have to call Pidge."

"What? _No._ "

"Pidge has the lab equipment, Keith. She can... test for stuff."

"I am not letting Pidge crawl around my junk, man, she's like our little sister!"

"It would be a blood test dude, relax." Lance folded his arms and frowned. "But she's out with Allura right now, do you really want Allura to find out that we've been fucking around this way?"

Keith groaned and pushed his hands back through his damp hair. "We gotta have a talk regardless," he said, finally. "She was super pissed at me when she left regarding the whole Galra thing anyway." He sighed, and Lance wanted to cross the locker room and sit down beside him ... but it was probably safer for both of them if he stayed where he was at the moment. Keith's hormones hadn't entirely calmed, just yet.

"Which, I am still _super_  pissed at her about, for the record." Lance set his hands between his legs on the bench and looked down at them. "You wanna talk about it?" he ventured, after a few long, heavy moments of silence.

Keith stood up. "There's nothing to talk about," he said, finally, and closed his locker door.

"Yeah, you and I both know that's bullshit, Keith," Lance said, his voice rising in volume as Keith left the locker room. Lance let out a long sigh, disgruntled, and stood up himself. Shiro needed to know about this.

 

#

 

Keith wasn't at the dining room table, nor in the kitchen. Shiro however, was, and he pointed some cooking utensil at Lance when he stuck his head in the kitchen looking for Keith. "No," Shiro said, and Lance laughed at him.

"That's Hunk, right there," Lance said, looking around Shiro to see that he was actually putting together food in a proper and non-toxic manner. "Whacking at me with his spatula."

"Yeah, but you never interrupted Hunk to fuck him on the table," Shiro said, and nudged Lance aside. "I'm almost done here, where's Keith?"

This probably wasn't the best time to open this can of worms, but Lance chewed his lower lip, and then said, quietly, "Takashi, we had sex without protection."

Shiro hesitated. Then he looked over at Lance, and there was something strange about his expression. "Yeah," he said. "I wondered how long it would take you to realize that."

"Asshole, why didn't you say anything?" Lance smacked his arm, hard, but it was the Galra-made prosthetic and all he got for his trouble was a hollow sound. "We could have a serious issue, here."

Shiro turned his attention back to the food. "Do you regret claiming me?" he asked, his voice soft, and Lance's mouth nearly fell open. "Because I can't have your children?"

"I..." Lance honestly didn't know what to say to that. "What the _fuck,_ Shiro."

"I know you come from a big family," Shiro continued, "and I can't provide that for you."

"Please tell me you didn't _not_  mention the obvious protection thing because you think I want babies," Lance said, leaning back against the counter and covering his face with both hands. "Shiro, for fuck's sake..."

"I'm damaged goods," Shiro said, and that did it for Lance, he grabbed Shiro by the arm this time. Shiro didn't let himself get yanked around though, he stood in place as Lance held his arm and didn't look at him.

"Don't _say_  shit like that," Lance said, the anger running high in his voice. "Don't talk about yourself like that to me, do you think I want to hear it?" Shiro still didn't look at him and Lance exhaled loud, and pushed one hand back through his hair. "God _dammit_."

"It was too late already when I'd realized it," Shiro said finally, looking down at Lance's hand closed tight on his arm. "I didn't say anything because at that point you had already knotted him anyway, but..." he sighed, and finally looked Lance in the face. "It's stupid, I'm sorry. It's just..." he covered Lance's hand with his own. "Keith could give you what you want."

"No he _can't_ ," Lance said, firmly and harshly, and Shiro looked at him again, startled. "I don't _want_  Keith. I want _you_." He leaned in close to Shiro, eyes on him. "We are _way_  too young to think about kids. I'm not disappointed in my choice of a mate, I _really_  don’t think there’s anything damaged about him unless we’re talking about his skin routine, and anyway I think I hit the galactic _jackpot,_  all right?"

Shiro smiled at him, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah," he said, his voice taking on that same weird, rough quality at his expression. "I think I got pretty lucky myself."

"You're damn right you did," Lance snorted. Shiro let out a small laugh and Lance smacked his arm again, though not as hard, before releasing it completely. " _You_  get to tell Keith you were trying to turn him into a brood mare, though," he added.

"I think we all share the blame equally," Shiro said, and Lance rolled his eyes, an exaggerated gesture.

"That's the Shiro I know and love, all responsible an' shit," he said. He leaned in toward the counter and picked up a diced piece of cooked meat, popping it into his mouth. He didn't choke on it, and tried not to let the flash of discomfort cross his face, but mostly failed. "Lighter on the seasoning," he croaked, a little, and Shiro groaned.

"The lid popped off," he said, gesturing toward Hunk's once-meticulous array of alien spices.

"Gimme the spatula," Lance said.

"No, I'm cooking."

" _Shiro._ "

 

#

 

"You," Lance said, and poked Hunk in the arm, "got _kidnapped._ "

Allura, Pidge and Hunk had all returned earlier in the day, bearing bags from two different space malls, a small floating drone that kept bumping into the wall distractedly, and a set of plans that included the layout of a Galra resupply base they'd been planning to hit the next system over.

Hunk grunted and rubbed his arm, and then scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "It wasn't that bad," he said, and Allura folded her arms, an amused expression on her face. "I wasn't really _kidnapped-_ kidnapped."

"Yeah, he went with them willingly," Pidge said. "Something about them needing a hostage to get out of the situation peacefully. I picked him up the next day."

"So... were there any cute lady aliens?" Lance said, eyebrows waggling and leaning in close, and now Hunk groaned.

"Lance," Shiro said, and Lance grinned and straightened, giving Shiro his best 'innocent' expression and Shiro not even batting an eye. "It's getting late, and I'm sure everyone's ready to rest, it's been a long day."

"I'm good," Pidge said, raising her hand without removing her attention from the screen before her. "I've got a lot to catch up on, I had plenty of time for kicking back and resting already." She raised her eyes for a moment, the reflected light from the holographic screen making her lenses flash opaque. For some reason, Allura immediately looked away.

Lance squinted at Allura, and then looked over at Keith, who had been characteristically silent. He had been watching Allura intently, though, with a frown equal to Shiro's, and for a second his scent spiked, pungent and strong. They hadn't really ... _interacted_ , since the Green and Yellow Lions had returned to the Castleship earlier in the day; at least not that Lance had caught, but Keith had been kinda sticking to his side like glue for most of the day.

He hung back as everyone started to leave the bridge, headed for bed and whatnot, and Keith gave him a sour look when he approached. "You're going to say something stupid," he said. "I can tell by the look on your face."

"Worse," Lance said. "I'm gonna say something you need to hear and you're not gonna like it."

Keith groaned. "You're gonna say exactly what Shiro said before y'all came on the bridge."

"Yes, that's-" Lance paused. "Did you just say ' _y'all'?_ "

"What? No I didn't."

"You _did._ " Lance goggled at him. "You just _twanged._ " He pointed at Keith and looked around the bridge, desperate for an audience he knew he didn't have. "I can't believe you just did that and there was no one else here to witness it."

"Yeah, and no one will ever believe you." Keith folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "Really, Lance, for fuck's sake. Out with it."

Lance cleared his throat. "You need to talk to Allura."

Keith hung his head and groaned louder. "The _exact_  same thing."

"Doesn't make it any less true, dude."

Keith sighed and looked away, he still hadn't unfolded his arms, keeping himself walled off from Lance. His scent had for the most part faded out since yesterday, and now standing beside him Lance could barely smell it. Apparently it only took one good screw to break his heat's thrall ... and hopefully it wasn't because Lance just got him pregnant. That conversation would be a _thousand_ times more awkward.

"What if she's done with me?" Keith said, and the way his tone pitched with worry made Lance's stomach clench. He knew that fear ... his and Shiro's courtship had been _really_  fucking brief, and then they came back to the Castleship and back to reality and Lance, for a week or two after, had this insane fear that Shiro was going to regret everything that happened between them and ask for Lance to take it all back. But he hadn't. He loved Lance back, had enjoyed him and his company for a while before Lance had even presented, and the fact that he was an _alpha_ , well... that just made things so much easier for him.

And he had told Lance all that, to his face. They'd sat up one night with a bottle of something Lance had traded two jugs of Kaltenecker's milk for and hidden from Coran, both sitting on Shiro's bed and just being _together._  The liquor loosened Lance's tongue, he told Shiro how he didn't feel good enough for him, or for the team - and Shiro had taken both his hands and looked straight into his eyes and told him the _exact same thing._  They shared the same fears, the same sense that they didn't deserve to be here ... but Shiro buckled his fears down under the fact that everyone needed him to be there and present and be the commander, that he couldn't stop and look after himself or his heart.

Had Keith had similar conversations with Allura? Had they ever _really_  talked?

"Keith," Lance said softly, and put his hand on Keith's shoulder, squeezing tight. "You need to do this, man. You know you do."

They both looked up when the door to the bridge opened again, and Allura hesitated, looking between them. There was a flash of emotion on her face but she smothered it well, as Pidge leaned out from behind her and said, "oh _good_. This makes things easier."

Lance dropped his hand from Keith's shoulder, and Keith turned away from him, to face Allura and Pidge. "Makes what easier?"

Allura looked at Lance, her brows drawn together in an expression of dismay, before she finally looked directly at Keith. Then she sighed. "We need to talk."

  
#

 

Pidge set her datapad on the table in the common room, and then leaned forward, squinting at Keith. "Your Galra heat's almost done," she said, pleased. "Did it ebb on its own or did you..." she glanced to Lance, who had followed Keith into the common room with his hands jammed in the pockets of his jacket and was trying not to look as guilty as he felt, "...have some _help?_ "

"Does it matter?" Keith said, his tone flat.

"Maybe." Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose and glanced at Allura, who had seated herself on one of the sunken couches not far from Pidge. "So, I don't know if you figured this out yet, but I hauled ass out of here once your heat started stinking worse than before."

"I _knew_  it," Lance hissed, jerking his head up. "Why didn't you say anything to me, I thought we were friends!"

"Well, for one thing I kinda thought you would figure it out for yourself," Pidge said, unimpressed. "The other was that I wasn't certain you would even _notice,_  since you're mated. On Earth," Pidge said, directing the rest of her statement toward Allura, "mated pairs aren't usually affected by other couples' cycles, whether it's a rut or a heat cycle."

Keith's expression had gone from serious to a hint of sheepish. "It even affected _you_?" he said, and sounded guilty.

Pidge shrugged. "It was potent. I was out of here the second I realized it, and even then it sent me into a rut, though it was a pretty mild one, all things considered."

Lance opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to figure out how he was going to address _that._  "You were in a rut around Hunk and Allura?"

"Unlike you, I can control myself," Pidge said.

"Mostly," Allura murmured and, horrifyingly, Pidge turned slightly pink.

"Anyway," Pidge continued, but Lance held out both his hands.

"Whoa whoa whoa," he said. "Let me stop you right there, are you saying that _you_ ," he pointed to Pidge, "and _Allura_ -" Allura flushed slightly dark when Lance pointed at her as well, and Lance just dropped his hand and swiveled on his heel, gaping at Keith. "Keith, I think Pidge banged your girlfriend."

"Yeah," Pidge said sharply, her irritation clear and precise. She held up her datapad, holding the thin piece of Altean tech between two fingers like it was a playing card. "And _you_  fucked Allura's boyfriend, so let's not get too tied up in what's what, here."

"We were on a break," Keith muttered crossly, arms folded, at the same time that Allura said, refusing to look in Lance and Keith's direction, "we're not exclusive."

"I gotta sit down," Lance said, and promptly stepped down into the sunken couch area, plopping his rear on the back of the seat and his feet on the cushions. "This is incredible. This is some Jerry Springer shit right here. I can't believe I'm living through this, Pidge do you have the audience chant from Jerry Springer on that laptop of yours because I feel like we're going to need it."

"Lance," Pidge said calmly, "shut the fuck up."

Keith, arms still folded and face stormy, stared at Allura. "You _left_ ," he said. "The second this shit started you turned tail and ran away."

Allura nodded her head once, and then looked down, at her hands folded in her lap. "I am sorry I left," she said, focused on her hands and twisting the ample fabric of her skirt. "I was ... scared."

"Scared?" Keith said, and scoffed. " _You_  were scared."

Her head jerked up, eyes narrowing. "You stopped smelling like _Keith_ ," she hissed. "You started smelling like a Galra, my enemy, and it was _terrifying._  I didn't know if I was going to wake next to someone who wanted me dead or not, I needed some distance to clear my head."

"And, what," Lance said. "Figured you'd trade in a right arm for a left?"

Allura scowled at Lance. "Absolutely _not_ , I love Keith."

There was a moment of silence, punctuated only by a sharp inhale as Allura realized what she had just put out there. She coughed into her hand, and when Lance swiveled to look back at Keith, he had turned the brightest shade of pink Lance had ever seen him manage. Lance looked over at Pidge and hiked his thumb at the door. "We're going now, Pidge."

"I'm not even _close_  to being done," Pidge said crossly.

"Yeah, we are," Lance said, firmly. He stood up, hands on his hips. "Don't make me come over there and pick you up, short stuff."

"Touch me at your own risk, stringbean," Pidge tucked her datapad under her arm and looked at Allura, who was staring intently at Keith. "Yeah, all right," Pidge said, throwing in the towel. "We'll continue this conversation later."

 

#

 

Outside, in the hallway leading from the common area, Pidge stopped walking, which caused Lance to stop in place as well. "You helped him with his heat, didn't you," Pidge said. "You knotted him."

Lance flushed a little but didn't back down from owning it. "How did you know?" he said, and Pidge raised her eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I did." Lance rocked on his heels a moment. "Keith asked me for it, though, I didn't..." he flushed harder at the implication, and not happily. "I didn't _take_  him, if that's what you're thinking."

"How much of him asking for it was him legitimately _asking_  for it, versus his heat controlling his decisions?" Pidge asked, and while there was a sharp undercurrent to her words her tone didn't quite reflect that.

"Does it matter now?" Lance looked away. "He sent me into a rut too, but even in a rut I won't touch anyone who doesn't want it. I respect Shiro too much for that." He sighed. "At any rate, Keith's freaky weird Galra heat got taken care of, and that's really all that matters, anyway. Although..."

"You didn't use protection." Pidge's voice shifted to flat, and Lance winced. "Because you and Shiro don't have to so you didn't even think of it, god _dammit_  Lance."

"Didn't even pass through my head once," Lance said with a sigh. "Since Shiro's safe and things progressed so fast it didn't even occur to me until well after the fact." He looked at Pidge imploringly. "Is there any way to do like, a super-discreet blood test or something? Just to be on the safe side?"

"I shouldn't help you at all, I should make you idiots live with your poor decision-making skills," Pidge snorted. "But yeah, I can." She stuck her finger at Lance. "Just so we're clear, though, no one else knows that Allura and I fooled around, understood? I don't need Coran looking at me the same way he does Keith."

"Coran looks at Keith funny?" Lance had never even noticed this. "Huh."

" _Lance._ "

"Okay, yeah, yeah. Deal." Lance stuck out his hand and Pidge shook it. "Really, _really_  hope we're just worried over nothing."

"Me too," Pidge said softly. "Me too."

 

#

 

"So," Lance said, seating himself on the edge of the training mat next to Allura the next morning. "I take it things went well?"

Allura was wearing a skintight pair of black leggings and a halter top, which was a far cry different than the outfit he was used to seeing her in. Lance had come in after breakfast with the intention of setting up the shooting range for target practice, only to find Allura practicing with a hard metal staff against one of the gladiator bots. He stood respectfully at the edge of the training mat and watched her practice until she was clearly through and disabled the training protocol.

She gave him an arch look, and Lance shrugged. "I usually find Keith in here working out _his_  frustrations on however many gladiator bots he feels deserve dismantling, usually means bad news."

"It's hardly bad news," Allura said, and wiped her face on the towel she'd slung over her shoulders. She settled, resting her wrist on one knee and looking distantly toward the other end of the training deck. "Keith and I reconciled."

"That's good, then," Lance said, although there was a sudden, bitter tang in his mouth that he didn't quite understand. "You two are a great match."

Allura cocked her head, strands of white hair escaping from the tight bun her hair was swept into. "I fear we make an unusual match," she said, slowly. "You don't agree?"

"Nah," Lance said. "The last princess of Altea and a half-Galra, half-human fighter pilot? Honestly sounds like something you'd see in the movies." He shrugged loosely. "It's not entirely out of the realm of the expected, and you two are a _lot_  alike. Now, me and Shiro?" he laughed. "We're a weird combination but hey, whatever works."

Allura looked at Lance and smiled. "You and Shiro compliment each other nicely," she said, and Lance scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Keith told me what you two did for him," she continued, and that sheepishness took an abrupt nosedive into a full-formed blush, because how much detail had Keith _provided?_ "I am grateful," Allura said, "even if I don't entirely understand."

"I don't get it either," Lance admitted. "It's hormones or pheromones or some weird biology shit, but it was exactly what he needed to calm his heat down and end it and I was glad to help. Wasn't like it was a chore, or anything." Lance laughed.

"When this happens again," Allura said, in that same slow, measured tone, "I would very much like to bear witness to the solution."

Lance sat and blinked at her, processing the statement, and then the full meaning of her words hit like a city bus. "You want to watch us fuck?" he said, and somehow didn't squeak the words that he spoke.

"I want to see if there's anything about it that I can replicate so that I can fulfill his needs myself," Allura said with more confidence. "Keith looks after my own needs with great vigor, and I wish to return his affection in kind."

"Okay," Lance put his hands up. "This is way more about your sex life than I need to know, Allura."

She smiled at him. "Is it so strange to speak of these things?" She shifted, tucking her legs under her. "On Altea we were far more free with those we love and keep in our confidence."

"Yeah, we're a little bit more closeted about those things on Earth." He sighed. "But it is something worth discussing. If ... _if_  we were to do that, if Keith has another funky heat like this last one, it wouldn't be just me. It would be me and Shiro. I won't touch another omega without my mate present."

Allura blinked at him. "Of course," she said. "I would not expect him to be left out. We would have to use my chambers though, I imagine, as my bed is more than large enough to accommodate everyone."

"Yeah, and hopefully it'll be a good, long while before we have to worry about that again," Lance said, and Allura leaned forward slightly, her head tilted.

"It still hasn't ended for him, yet."

Silence. "...what?" Lance said.

"Keith told me that his symptoms have mostly subsided after the first time that you helped him, but they haven't entirely abated. So, we were hoping that you could provide your assistance again soon." Allura looked at him, doe-eyed. "Perhaps even tonight?"

" _Ay dios mio_ ," Lance murmured, and pressed his palm to his forehead. "Let me talk to Shiro."

 

#

 

Shiro was on the bridge with Coran and going over some star charts, making the preliminary plans for their eventual run at the Galra base. Lance fought the urge to slink onto the bridge and kept his shoulders and back straight, and was rewarded by a small smile when Shiro's eyes flickered to the door to see who was interrupting them. "I need to borrow Shiro for a minute, Coran," Lance said, and Coran lifted his head and blinked at him.

"A minute, Paladin?" Coran snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's the one that's close to a varga, yes? I will learn your ridiculous measures of time yet!"

"More like a dobosh, Coran," Shiro said with a smile. "I'll be back in a few."

He stepped off the bridge with Lance, into the corridor just beyond its doors. Lance sighed and folded his arms once the doors to the bridge closed behind them, his carefree mood evaporating with it. "Keith's still in heat," he said, and Shiro's eyebrow went up.

" _Still?_  I thought you said his scent had shifted."

"It had. Allura said that he's still not quite done yet." Lance sighed and scuffed his hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do," he said, a little helplessly since Shiro didn't respond. "I want to help him, but it feels ... wrong. Especially with Allura back."

Shiro let out a long sigh through his nose. "I want to help him too, Lance," he said finally. "I'm not going to lie, I had a lot of fun doing what we did."

"Yeah," Lance said softly. "Me too. So why do I feel like this?" He spread his hands wide. "It's frustrating, I hate feeling so vaguely guilty about it."

"Well, maybe it's not you," Shiro said.

Lance paused and looked at Shiro. "What do you mean?"

Shiro gestured slightly. "We both know we're fine with us doing this because it's meant to help Keith, you're not screwing around for the sake of screwing around. Keith is a different matter, though, and since Keith and Allura are a couple we feel guilty because our presence is disrupting _that._ "

Lance considered this. "I don't know that's it," he said, although he sounded uncertain.

Shiro settled his hands on his hips. "Do you want to fuck Keith again?"

There was a moment of silence as Lance turned red to the tips of his ears. He looked down at his feet and addressed his response to the floor. "Yeah," he said, finally. "He was so _responsive_  to it."

"Yeah," Shiro said, and there was a faint smile on his face. "It was the first time he'd ever been knotted."

Lance looked up at him suddenly, eyes wide. "Wait, _what?_ "

"He didn't mention that to you at all?" Shiro seemed surprised. "I know he'd played around before but never with alphas, so he'd never had a knot. I'm surprised he didn't say anything to you..." he shrugged. "Well, knowing Keith, maybe I'm not _that_  surprised."

Lance gave Shiro a watery look. "Was I your first knot?"

Shiro blinked fast, and then looked away, flushing guiltily. "Oh," Lance said, a little put out by his response. Then he patted Shiro's arm. "That's okay, Shiro, it really is. Doesn't mean anything until a claim, anyway."

"I wanted to be special for you," Shiro said, softly.

"You _are_."

He smiled at Lance. "I know." He looped his arm over Lance's shoulder and kissed the side of his head. "Which is why I know I can trust you with Keith, and all of this."

"Yeah," Lance said. "So about helping him out again." He squirmed under Shiro's arm but didn't remove it. "Allura wants us to help him out tonight."

Shiro paused. "Why is _Allura_  asking?"

"Because she wants to be there." Shiro went still, and then took his arm off Lance's shoulders. He instead folded his arms and tucked his chin to his chest, staring studiously at the ground as he considered this new variable. It was a pose alarmingly similar to one that Keith took when he was thinking seriously about something, and the way that they mirrored each other was actually somewhat cute, Lance realized finally. "Shiro?"

"That's..." Shiro lifted his head, still frowning. "That's a whole new dimension to all of this."

"Yeah, no kidding," Lance said. "What do you think?"

"I think that the more people we invite into our bed, the more crowded it becomes."

"She offered to let us use her bed, said it was big enough for everybody."

Shiro looked at Lance, clearly unimpressed. "Sounds like you've had quite the conversation with her about this, huh?"

"It came up." Lance shrugged, and then jammed his hands into the pockets of his jacket again and rocked on his feet. "Keith and Allura had a very long talk in the common room yesterday, and I think that they worked a lot of things out." He wrinkled his nose slightly at the memory of the scent still in the air, Keith's and Allura's, intertwined. He didn't want to imagine what they had done to cause the after-scent, he just hoped the clean cycle on the ship was thorough. "Mainly she wants to be there because maybe if she can see how it's done she can replicate it. Somehow."

Shiro sighed. "I think that we should talk to them both before any pants come off. Can you smell Keith again, like you could before?"

Lance shook his head negatively. "His scent isn't overwhelming, just present. Like yours when your heat is just starting out or ending."

"All right," Shiro said, clapping Lance on the shoulder. "I've got to get this done with Coran, and then we'll find Keith and Allura and talk."

Lance nodded his head and watched Shiro step back through the doors to the bridge. Then he rocked on his heels again and sighed loudly, before turning abruptly and heading down the corridor. This was a _lot_  of shit to unpack. Where was Hunk when he needed him?

 

#

 

Hunk said, quite plaintively, "is everyone on this ship getting laid but me?"

"You and Coran, I think," Lance said, laid out flat on the floor of Hunk's room. He had his legs hooked up over the side of Hunk's bed, and was holding a datapad above his face, squinting at the data on it.

"You didn't mention Pidge."

Lance hesitated, lowering the datapad to look at Hunk upside-down. "Sworn to secrecy there, brother. Sorry."

"God dammit." Hunk was sitting cross-legged on the floor and staring at a deconstructed assembly, trying to piece the weapon back together. "Even _Pidge_  is getting some. Shit's lonely, man."

"Talk to Pidge, she'll hook you up." Lance maneuvered the datapad slightly, changing the angle he was holding it at and therefore changing the way the light refracted through the thin alien tech. "Hell, she might just let you have a round on her."

"Okay, _ew._  That's _Pidge_ "

"You're the one who wants some." Lance laid the datapad down on his chest, and folded his hands over it. After a protracted moment of silence, he let out a long sigh. The silence continued on, before Lance sighed dramatically again and Hunk lifted his head, irritated.

"You're about to lay some bizarre crap on me," Hunk said. "Coming in here all weird and," he gestured, "shit." He pointed at Lance with his small tool. "Look. You've got a good thing going with Shiro, and I'm really happy for you, so don't screw it up."

"That's not it," Lance said. He rolled his head a little. "Well, it's _kinda_ that but not really, it's stupid complicated."

"Dude, don't bang Keith behind Shiro's back, that's low."

"I would _never_  do that," Lance said, rolling so that his legs slid off the bed and he could scramble upright. "I wouldn't do that to him, Hunk, how could you even _say_  that!"

"Because I've seen you and Keith together and I have eyes, pal." Hunk raised an eyebrow before pulling his welding goggles down over his eyes and picking up a piece of electronics, holding it close to his face. "Stop flirting with him, it only makes things worse."

Lance opened and closed his mouth, gaping like a fish. "I'm not _flirting_  with _Keith,"_  he said, hand on his chest like an injured housewife. "Keith is with Allura! They're totally still banging! Like, in the common room banging not just regular banging."

"Like in the kitchen on the counter banging?" Hunk said casually, and Lance froze.

"...who told you about that?" Lance shook his head and waved both hands in the air. "No, doesn't matter, it's just..." he hung his head and sighed. "I love Shiro, man. He's my everything. But this thing with Keith has me rattled and I don't know what to do about it."

"Talk to Shiro," Hunk said simply.

"I _have._ " Lance pushed both of his hands through his hair.

"And...?" Hunk pushed his goggles up. "Either he's down with it or he's not, I don't see what your problem is here."

Lance groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face. "It just keeps getting more complicated." Lance sighed, and folded his hands back over the datapad. "Hunk, buddy, be glad that you're a beta because I am _over_  this crazy heat and rut nonsense."

"That's what you keep telling me," Hunk muttered. "Still not getting laid, over here." Thankfully the buzzer on Hunk's door went off a split second before the doors opened unannounced. Lance rolled his head to look upside-down at Pidge, standing in the open door and holding her datapad to her chest like a clipboard.

"The buzzer's new," Pidge said.

"That's because no one on this ship knocks." Hunk didn't get up.

"Shiro knocks," Lance said, defensively, and Hunk shrugged at him.

Pidge kicked Lance's legs with a foot, and Lance yelped but didn't move as she sat down on the edge of Hunks bed. "Congratulations, idiot, you're not a father."

"Oh thank _god_ ," Lance flopped his arms out and exhaled a breath that felt like he had been holding all day. "Did you already tell Keith?"

"Signed, sealed and delivered." Pidge folded her arms. "Use protection next time you feel the need to sow your wild oats, huh?"

"I thought you weren't flirting with Keith," Hunk said. "Or sleeping with him behind Shiro's back." His tone had gone straight accusatory now, and Lance rolled his head and looked at Hunk.

"Nothing happened behind Shiro's back," he said. "Shiro was right in the middle of it."

"I don't need to hear about this," Pidge said. She smacked Lance's shoe again for good measure. " _Protection next time._ "

"Hey Pidge," Lance said. "Hunk needs to get fucked, think you could help him out?"

" _LANCE,_ " Hunk's voice cracked when it went that high.

Pidge gave Lance a look that could melt molten steel, and then gave Hunk a considering look. "Eh, if he wants," she said, then slid off the bed.

Hunk's high-pitched noise almost drowned out the sharp knock at the door. Lance laughed over the racket as Pidge opened the door, on her way out of the room. Shiro stood there, and looked torn as he clearly had Questions but didn't know if he wanted Answers.

"Told you he'd knock," Lance said, although Hunk was too busy wallowing in his embarrassment to notice.

"Lance," Shiro said, in that certain tone of voice he got sometimes when he knew that whatever was going on was Lance's fault.

"Not my fault," Lance sat up on his elbows, and gave Shiro a winning smile.

Shiro sighed and hiked his thumb over his shoulder. "We need to go have a _talk_  with Allura," he said significantly, and Lance got his meaning immediately, rolling entirely upright.

"Right now?"

"Right now," Shiro confirmed. He gave Hunk one last, concerned look and then shook his head as Lance stood and stepped outside of Hunk's room to join Shiro.

 

#

 

Lance had been in Allura's chambers all of twice; once because he was chasing the mouse who stole half his sandwich, the other time on actual business. That being said, it felt weird and he immediately felt out of place stepping through the door into her chambers ... never mind for something like _this._

Shiro must have sensed his hesitation, because he put one hand on the small of Lance's back; steady and comforting. "You okay?" Shiro asked in a low tone, and Lance exhaled and nodded his head, uncertain if he actually trusted himself enough to speak. He _was <_ okay, mostly - another chance to knot Keith, a chance to show off for Allura ... a chance to get pinned in place by Shiro's cock again ... these were all things that he _wanted_ , and he knew he did, so this was mainly a case of nerves gone awry. At least he had Shiro here with him, because otherwise who knew how he would be able to face this.

Keith was sitting on the edge of Allura's bed, and his head turned toward the door automatically, scanning for threats. He looked a little surprised to see both Lance and Shiro, and he stood, eyes wide and already completely naked. It was amazing how quickly Lance got used to _that._  "Started without us, huh?" Lance said, although when he looked around the large room he didn't notice Allura lurking. "Where's...?"

"Oh," Allura's voice came from behind a screen, and she popped her head around it. "You two are a bit early, goodness."

"We can always come back later," Shiro drawled, clearly amused, and Lance folded his arms and tried valiantly not to blush. Allura's hair was loose and tangled, and when he glanced back to Keith he noticed that Keith had his eyes on Lance, and was watching _him_  just as intently. Well, Keith got to ogle the heck out of Shiro in their last encounter, and what was fair for the goose was fair for the gander as far as he was concerned.

"There's no need for that, Shiro," Allura said, her head disappearing for a moment. There was the sound of running water, for the moment, and then Allura emerged from behind the screen, completely naked as well. Instantly Lance's head emptied of all thoughts because he never thought for one second that he'd get a chance to see Allura naked and here she was, strolling casually toward the bed without a care in the world. She brushed her hand against Keith's cheek and his attention turned to her, catching her hand and kissing the palm with a soft smile that Lance had never seen before.

Shiro touched the small of his back again, hand firm and steady and connecting him to reality. "Ah," Allura said brightly. "I am glad you both came.”

"I thought we were going to talk, first," Shiro said, and there was some measure of amusement in his tone that Lance thought was entirely misplaced.

"Can we not talk like this?" Allura folded her hands in front of her, like she would if she was wearing clothes, and Lance's eyes went to where her hands were folded, then realized and attempted to refocus on her eyes. "You are both wearing _far_  too many clothes anyway, come here, come here-" she left Keith standing by the bed and came right up to Lance and Lance couldn't help it, he really couldn't, and his eyes zeroed in straight on her chest. Shiro laughed when he attempted to stammer something coherent and very much failed.

"I think you're his first naked woman, Allura," Shiro said, patting Lance's shoulder.

"I've seen tits before," Lance said, to Allura's chest.

"Yeah, _that_  sounded convincing," Keith called, sitting back on the edge of Allura's very large bed. Shiro kissed the side of Lance's head and left him to Allura, pulling off his shirt as he walked over to the bed, and to Keith.

"Oh, um-" Lance didn't know what to do with his hands when Allura touched his cheek. "I thought this was... I thought you and Shiro were just gonna watch."

Allura had not removed her circlet, or her earrings, and they glittered under the overhead lights. She moved closer to him, draping one arm over his shoulder but not taking her eyes from his. "Did Shiro just watch?" she asked, lightly.

Lance swallowed.

"Allura," Keith said, and Allura laughed, kissing Lance's cheek. "Stop teasing him, he's gonna blow his load just looking at you.”

"Yeah, probably." Shiro was sitting on the bed now beside Keith, pulling his boots off and down to just his pants already. "Do you have more than one in you today, Lance?"

"Uh," Lance said, attention redirected to Shiro as he watched Shiro unfasten his pants. Then he realized that Keith was sitting beside Shiro, his weight leaned back on one hand as he watched Shiro strip. He was sitting there naked and comfortable, completely the opposite from how he had been in his own room, in his own bed. That was when Lance noticed a very distinctive lack of his heat's stink. He blinked, struck. "Your heat is over?"

Now Keith looked slightly abashed. He flushed slightly, and then nodded his head once. "Yeah, sometime earlier today, I think." He spread his legs and that drew Lance's attention to what was between them, and a much more normal-looking cock that lay, mostly hard, against his thigh. There was still the faint impression of bands under the skin, but they were barely raised. Keith touched his own prick, and then closed his hand around it, stroking once.

"Don't think those are going away," he said absently, thumb rubbing over a band.

Lance looked back at Allura, very much confused now. "If his heat is over, what are we even doing here?"

Allura and Keith exchanged a long, silent look. "It _was_  originally to help Keith, again," Allura admitted. "And I do want to see your knot in action, Lance, but ... when his heat abated Keith and I spoke and we just kind of wanted to have some fun with you two."

"No strings attached fun," Keith added, because Shiro had stopped stripping when Lance had realized that Keith's scent was gone from the air. Lance looked to Shiro, who was watching Keith with a concerned expression, and then directed his gaze toward Lance.

"What do you think?" Shiro asked mildly, and Lance couldn't detect the dangerous undercurrent that _should_  be there, the potent, possessive jealousy he'd had before. "Because if Lance is in, I'm in."

Just ... fun?

"What kind of fun?" Lance asked, his mouth dry and so very aware of the fact that Allura was leaned against him, the swell of her bare breasts pressed into his arm.

"God, his brain is just gone," Keith said, and rolled his eyes. He looked over at Shiro imploringly, and Shiro shook his head and let out a small laugh. While still making direct eye contact with Lance, Keith leaned over and gripped Shiro's dick through the fabric of his pants. Shiro's laugh cut out and he let out a surprised moan, and then looked surprised at _himself_ for reacting. " _This_  kind of fun, you dumbass."

"Yeah, uh," Lance could be down with this. Lance could be _very_  down with this. "Okay. Let's do this."

 

#

 

If someone had mentioned to Lance six months ago that not only would he have presented as an alpha and claimed a mate, but that he would be in bed with two aliens and said mate and having a great time he would have thought that everyone had lost their damn minds. But, here he was, naked as the day he was born with Keith's hand between his legs and an expression on his face that was, if anything, disappointing.

"What's the matter, Keith," Lance said, as Keith stroked him again. "Heat worn off and now you're faced with the reality that I fucked you stupid?"

"You're _never_  going to let that go," Keith tugged on his cock hard and Lance hissed out a satisfied breath between his teeth.

"Nope." He gripped Keith's thigh harder, although his hand wasn't quite close enough to make contact with Keith's own dick. "It's my second greatest life achievement and counting, right now."

" _Second_  greatest?" Keith actually stopped jerking him off for a moment, hand dangerously tight on Lance's cock.

"Well, yeah," Lance smirked at him. "First is always gonna be having the greatest guy in the universe fall in love with me." He glanced over at Shiro, who was currently flat on his back in the sheets and staring, glassy-eyed, at the canopy above them as Allura sucked him off. She had swallowed him down in one go, all the way, and Shiro almost came on the spot.

"Yeah," Keith said. "Alteans apparently don't have a gag reflex. It's great, isn't it?"

"...great," Shiro repeated vaguely, eyes unfocused.

"No fair," Lance whined, and Keith shoved him back on the bed and started stroking him again. "I want Allura to suck me off too, I want..." he wanted to bury his face in her boobs and shove his fingers inside her, but that seemed kind of gauche to say directly to her boyfriend, his hand currently on Lance's dick or not. He gritted his teeth as Keith stroked him hard again, the sensation fantastic but not anywhere near close enough.

"Don't worry," Keith said. "I'm gonna fuck Allura sloppy right in front of you, and then you're going to knot her."

"Knot _her?_ " Lance had never even _dreamed_  of that. "I thought she just wanted to _see,_ I don't..." his eyes rolled back as Keith stroked him again, just the right way.

Allura lifted her head, Shiro's cock glistening as it slowly slid free. "Yes, Lance," she said, her voice as proper and unruffled as it would be standing on the bridge of the Castleship and giving orders. "If I can experience it myself it may be the key to replicating it for when Keith really needs it again."

"Replicating," Lance repeated. "You keep _saying_  that, are you telling me you can," he wiggled his fingers in the air. "Grow a cock?"

"You bet she can," Keith murmured. "Any kind you can think of."

Lance looked at Keith, surprised, and then back to Allura. She rolled up on her side, face still all up in Shiro's business, and spread her legs for Lance, one hand sliding between them to pull back her folds and expose herself for him. "I can grow a cock," she said, sweetly. "But I figured you would want to taste my pussy first."

And, oh _fuck_  Allura saying something so dirty in her proper, regular tone made Lance _shudder._ Keith slid his hand down to the base of Lance's cock and squeezed it hard, the pain of the pressure overrode his pleasure for a brief second, grounding him, and the moment was lost. " _Fuck_ ," Lance panted, and Keith gave him a wicked smirk.

"Bet you've never had pussy before," he said, and Lance flushed scarlet. "Hey, Allura," Keith said without taking his eyes off Lance. "You done yet over there?"

"Mm," Allura hummed, swallowing Shiro all the way down to his root. Shiro groaned, trying to buck his hips into her mouth but Allura's hand on his hip was enough to keep him down. She lifted her head again, Shiro's cock breaking free with an obscene slurp. "He's all ready for you, love."

Keith tapped Lance's nose, which drew his attention back to Keith. "Enjoy," he said, and rose to his knees. Lance blinked at him, as Keith crawled through the mess of blankets toward Shiro, who was sitting up on his elbows. "Uh-uh," Keith said to Shiro, putting his hand on Shiro's chest and throwing his leg over, straddling him. "You get to stay down, Shiro."

Lance watched as Keith kissed Shiro tentatively, one hand going back to his dick and stroking him, and realized Keith intended to ride Shiro. "Lance," Allura's voice reached him and his attention shifted from Keith and Shiro to her, specifically. She'd moved when Keith straddled Shiro, and had situated herself at the head of the bed, lying back against the large amount of decorative pillows. "Come here," she said, and it was an order that Lance almost tripped over himself to follow.

She spread her legs wide for him and, tentatively, Lance put his hand on her knee. Allura was rubbing two fingers through her cleft, and stopped when she realized that Lance was staring, instead parting her labia and once again showing herself off to him. Lance had _seen_  girly mags, they were all over the dorms at the Garrison, traded and stashed under mattresses with the same frequency as the omega porn ... so he'd seen this before, _somewhat._  But it was different in the flesh, he could smell the scent of Allura's musk and see how she glistened in the overhead lights. "Can I...?" he asked, breathless, tearing his gaze from that fixed point between her legs and Allura _laughed_ , not mocking him but simply amused.

She touched her slick-covered fingers to lips and smirked, and without hesitating Lance grabbed her wrist and dragged those same fingers to his mouth, sucking on them without breaking Allura's gaze. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she she wet her own lips as she slid her fingers free from Lance's mouth. "Please," she said, and Lance lowered himself to lay between her legs.

His first lick was tender and experimental, fingers holding her lips apart and just trying to get a taste for her. It was so different than a cock, different than eating out Shiro, but it was a _good_  different, especially when his tongue and lips encountered a hard nub that made Allura gasp aloud.

Oh, _that's_  where it was. Once he figured that out, he wasn't about to leave it alone. Allura shuddered under his tongue and her knees closed around his head, hands going into his hair to hold him in place. Lance barely noticed, until she yanked on his head and hissed, _"fingers"_ in a tone he'd never heard before and oh, yeah, there was a hole here too, fluttering every time he licked her. Allura let out a throaty noise when he slipped two fingers in and they went easily, pressing against her inner walls and trying to feel out how different it really was.

She was hot and tight, velvety soft inside and wet ... not drenched like the way Shiro or Keith got on their heats, but enough that he knew she could take him easily. Lance wanted to put his cock inside _now_  but Allura's legs were tight around his head and he couldn't move, could barely lift his head to look up at her never mind stop what he was doing. So he didn't stop, alternating his attention and using his fingers more as he licked, slipping a third in and feeling her clamp down hard on him. " _Lance_ ," Allura said breathlessly, and he had never heard his name before, not like _that_ , and he was never going to be able to hear it from her lips in any other way. " _Quiznak_ ," Allura nearly shouted, and yanked Lance against her by his hair, burying his face in her folds and riding his tongue and fingers like they were a cock.

Holy _shit._  Lance panted aloud when Allura's fingers finally loosened and he was permitted to raise his head. His face with slick with fluid and he rubbed his palm across his chin, wiping some clean. Allura's folds glistened slightly, almost like they were glowing, puffy and pink, and a puddle of fluid all but saturated the sheets beneath her ass. He pushed himself to his knees and Allura smiled beatifically, face flushed and her Altean face markings _definitely_  glowing. "Wow," Lance said softly, as Allura squirmed in place, still feeling the aftershock of her orgasm.

" _Fuck_ ," Keith sobbed, interrupting his train of thought, and Lance looked over, for the first time feeling the bed itself moving. Keith was riding Shiro hard, tilted forward and moving fast, rocking from his heels to his knees. Shiro had one hand on Keith's thigh and the other on his neck, and he was murmuring a constant low stream of words that Lance couldn't make out but knew the litany by heart. He bit his lip and felt the jealousy bubble silently in his gut ... until Allura's hand caught his chin and drew his attention back to her.

"That was so good Lance," Allura said, rubbing her thumb over his lips, smearing some of her fluid still on his face. "You're sure you've never had pussy before?"

"It isn't all that different from eating Shiro out," Lance said truthfully. "Little bit messier, though." He licked his chops slowly, like a cat, and then his gaze drifted downward. She looked down as well and realized that once again he had been distracted by her breasts, so Allura caught Lance's hand and put it on the swell of her bust.

"Have at," she said. "Keith isn't as into them."

Lance stared at his hand on Allura's tit and, after a moment he used his other hand to push them together and feel how they moved. Warm and heavy and soft, he brushed his thumbs over the nubs of her nipples. "He doesn't play with your boobs?"

She shook her head and leaned forward, pressing her chest into Lance's hands. "Not often, no. Feel free," she added, and without further encouragement Lance leaned in and fastened his mouth over one nipple, squeezing the other breast in his hand. Allura hummed in amusement and put her hand on the back of his head, as Lance suckled at her.

Allura looked over at Shiro, who was watching Keith intently, all of his focus on him. "Don't let him come," she called over, and that seemed to break the haze that Shiro was under. He glanced at her, seeing Lance with his face buried in her bosom, and then back to Keith, riding him hard.

"No orgasm for Keith?" he confirmed, closing his hand on Keith's cock and squeezing. Keith yelped and stopped moving his hips, sliding all the way down Shiro's thick cock and shuddering.

"No," Allura said. "His punishment is that he doesn't get to come anywhere but inside me."

"Oh ho," Shiro stroked Keith's cock again, once, twice, and then squeezed it tightly. "If you want him inside, Princess, that should happen fast. He's close."

Allura kissed the crown of Lance's head, which made him lift his face from her chest. "Go to your mate," she said, and Lance sat back on his knees, dazed.

"Lance," Shiro said and oh, _Shiro._  His _mate._  Lance crawled across the bed sheets to him, where he lay still sprawled on his back. Keith hadn't climbed off him yet but he was no longer moving, and he was panting loudly as he watched Shiro and Lance kiss deeply. The taste of Allura was still on his breath, he knew, but Shiro didn't say anything. "C'mon, now," Shiro said, jogging his hips, and Keith made a sad, sad noise of loss as he slowly rose off of Shiro's cock.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Allura said with a laugh. She rose on her knees and showed Keith the curve of her ass. "You know what we talked about," she said, sultry, and Keith was suddenly alive again, crawling across the mattress with a purpose.

"Did you enjoy it?" Shiro asked Lance as as they threaded their fingers together. Lance pulled Shiro's hand to his mouth and kissed it, shifting around so that he could watch whatever Allura and Keith were up to. After a moment Shiro rose, curling his body around Lance's and tucking his chin over Lance's shoulder, holding him close. "Eating the Princess out."

Lance watched Keith kiss Allura deeply, and nodded his head. "It was different," he said, and laughed a little when Shiro held his face still, licking his cheek. He realized, startled, that Shiro was tasting Allura's fluids off his skin. "It was good," he amended.

"Better than me?" Shiro asked, casual, and Lance tilted his head against Shiro's and grinned.

"Not on your life."

 

#

 

Apparently, what Allura wanted was for Keith to fuck her ass in front of them, because damn if that wasn't what Keith did. There was very little prep work that went into it, and Lance figured that was just an Altean thing. It seemed like ninety percent of the strange stuff all fell under "just an Altean thing" so it was probably safe to assume. He hadn't seen Keith fuck before, though - he'd seen Keith _get_  fucked, but he hadn't seen Keith _fuck_  - and holy _hell_  that was hot. Keith was savage like Shiro was, in the best ways, and he held both of Allura's arms as he slammed into her again and again, forcing small gasping moans from her as he fucked her hard.

She didn't slump or pull herself away, although Lance knew she was strong enough to if she wanted, and when Keith fell back on his ass he dragged her with him, tucking her ankles outside his thighs and forcing her to ride his cock, putting herself on display.

Shiro had slid his hands under Lance's arms, and he hadn't really _touched_  him, but now he lightly stroked Lance's cock with his prosthetic hand. Lance's attention was riveted on Keith and Allura, though, and he knew that he wanted this.

Keith gripped Allura's thighs, held them spread, and thrust up into her again. Allura hung on to Keith's forearms and rode the thrust, the markings on her face glowing brighter than before. They could both see, so clearly, how Keith's dick disappeared into Allura's ass, and how her empty hole fluttered and clenched with every thrust. "God damn," Shiro grunted, and stroked his own cock in time to Keith's thrusts.

Lance, though, Lance was looking at Keith and meeting his eye. "She wants your knot, Lance," Keith said suddenly, and Allura gasped at the way he moved her, spreading her legs wider and exposing her more. "Put your knot in. Plug her up."

His hands curled into fists on his knee, he wanted more than anything to go to them, right now, but... Shiro's hand, now settled on his belly, curled tight and protective. "Fuck her," Shiro encouraged him, low and seductive. "Fuck her good, Lance. I'm right here watching you."

Allura opened her eyes when she sensed Lance coming near. Her mouth was open slightly, panting and enjoying every thrust of Keith's so deeply. "He's good," she said, when she saw Lance staring. She slid her hand down Keith's arm, and then down her own body, dipping her fingers into her hole and inviting him.

Lance stroked himself. His knot hadn't started to form yet, there wasn't the scent of heat in the air, his rut had already faded. "I don't know if I can knot," he said, almost a whisper. "No one's in heat."

"Put it in me anyway," Allura said, almost incoherent, her hand out to him and the last thing Lance wanted was to disappoint the _princess._

Keith stopped moving for this, holding Allura still as Lance rubbed his cock in her folds. Even this part felt different, but as he thrust blindly in the sensation of sinking into wet heat was at the same time strangely foreign and deeply familiar. Allura hissed out a low sound as he probed deeper but her channel felt weird, like it wasn't at the right angle ... at least until Keith moved and her channel constricted and Lance realized that the strangeness he felt was Keith's cock, distorting everything.

Holy _fuck_  was that hot.

"Quiznak, _quiznak_ ," Allura gasped as Lance thrust again, shallow, and she grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him close. She swore something else, a mix of syllables that Lance had certainly never heard before, and then she clenched down on him as Keith moved at the same time and he realized that he understood the sentiment. Feeling Keith move, through the thin wall of tissue that separated them, was insane. Allura shuddered between them and Lance looked past her, at Keith, who was watching him. Lance bit his lip and nodded, hoping he understood what that silent look meant.

They moved together, slow but consistent, Lance reaching deeper as Keith pulled free. Allura didn't speak again, although she vocalized quite a bit, her fingernails biting into the back of Lance's neck and his shoulder as she slid her hand down and squeezed it against his skin. "Fuck," Lance grunted, and then felt a breath along the back of his neck and almost froze up when Shiro kissed him there, soothing the burn from Allura's nails.

"Keep going," Shiro rumbled, and Lance gladly did as instructed.

The angle was awkward but the sensation good and the way his muscles clenched behind his pelvis reminded him that maybe, just maybe, he could force a knot and give Allura exactly what she wanted. He moved more shallow and felt Keith still, apparently enjoying the sensation of Lance speeding up his thrusts and rubbing him too. "You gonna knot?" Keith asked, breathless, brushing Allura's hair forward and over her shoulders.

"Think so," Lance grunted, hands shifting to Allura's hips. Keith bit his lip, and then thrust as well, haphazard compared to Lance's hips working like a piston. He made to slip out entirely but Allura's hand caught on his, holding her on his lap.

"Inside," she grunted, tearing her gaze of Lance's for the moment. "If you're going to come, you're coming _inside_ , Keith."

" _Damn_  it," Keith snarled, and bore upwards hard, at the same time that Lance was thrusting in. Allura nearly shrieked at the sensation, both cocks bottoming out at the same time, and she shuddered hard as Lance leaned down and took one of her breasts in his mouth. Abruptly, her pussy tightened around him, contracting several times before relaxing entirely and releasing a fresh load of wetness.

Keith groaned loudly and shifted underneath her, pulling out with a wet squelch. "Happy?" he said, brushing Allura's hair away from her face and kissing her mouth tenderly.

"I'll be better when I have Lance's inside as well," she hummed, and looked past him, smirking at Shiro. "And maybe Shiro's, too."

"Looking to collect the whole set, huh?" Lance said, thrusting shallowly as Keith adjusted Allura against him. She slid down between his legs, and that moved Lance with her, changing the angle of his thrusts and making Allura gasp again. He grunted as he kept going, focusing on his cock, focusing on that feeling that ran through him like lightning when he knew his knot was going to take. He'd bred Shiro, he'd bred Keith and now it was Allura's turn to feel his seed inside and oh, _that_  was the right train of thought as he felt his balls clench and grow taut.

 

"Come on," Allura had both her arms around his neck now, legs over his hips and ankles crossed, keeping him in close. "Come on, Lance, give it to me!"

Lance gave in to her words, pace sped up, fucking her hard against Keith. The noise Allura made was delighted, even more so when Lance's balls squeezed tight and he came, finally, painting her insides in thick white. Allura made a terrible noise of satisfaction which rose in pitch when she realized that Lance wasn't withdrawing, that his knot had started to swell and Allura smacked Lance's shoulders with both hands. "Out, _out_ ," she gasped, as Lance tugged at her rim with the fat bulge in his dick, but he wasn't going anywhere _now_  and they both knew it.

"You wanted my knot," he said, breathless. "This is it, Allura."

" _Quiznak_ ," Allura slammed her head back, thumping it against Keith's chest. "It's so much _larger_ than I thought it would be, Keith, it's so _much._ "

"Yeah," Keith said, brushing his fingers through Allura's sweat-soaked bangs. "That's what makes it good, though." He kissed the side of her head, but watched Lance, who was still holding himself upright through sheer stubborn force of will. "Thought you said you wouldn't be able to knot."

"I was wrong," Lance panted. He didn't exactly want to tell Keith or Allura the way he'd triggered it in himself, imagining knocking them _both_  up with his cubs, but god Allura's channel was pulsing around him still and trying hard to drag another orgasm out of him, or perhaps her.

"Shiro," Lance said suddenly, wanting his mate near. Shiro's broad hand was warm, touching Lance's back between his shoulder blades, and he ran it up to cradle the back of Lance's head, scratching his fingers through the short hair on the nape of Lance's neck.

"Shh," Shiro said, comforting. "I'm right here, Lance." Lance turned his head blindly, seeking Shiro's lips, and Shiro kissed him tenderly. Lance thrust shallowly into Allura again, moving his knot for her and hearing her moan and clench, digging both of her hands into the soft curve of her belly.

"I feel..." she said, and stopped, clearly puzzled.

"Allura?" Shiro said, concerned.

""No," she said, and relaxed her hands. "I won't, but it _feels_  as though this action could result in a child." She was relaxing all over, her muscles going to jelly. "I am not in my time, but if I were, this would be dangerous."

"Well, that's good to know," Lance said with resignation, because one pregnancy scare was apparently not enough for his life this week.

Keith was still combing his fingers through Allura's hair, arms tucked under hers. "I thought you said you weren't a carrier," he murmured, and Allura nodded her head, clearly still slightly dazed.

"Feel like I could be," she murmured, her voice dropping. "Feels so good, Keith. Feels like you." She turned her head, seeking a kiss from him.

"Not exactly like me, I hope," Keith said, kissing her.

"No," Allura murmured, eyes going closed. "I like you better."

 

#

 

Lance laid on his back in the sheets, panting hoarsely. He was staring up at the canopy of fabric above them, which tented over Allura's ridiculously-sized bed, and trying to process everything that had happened so far. Honestly he wasn't having much luck, brain dripping metaphorically out his ears and being slightly distracted by the constant movement of the mattress as Shiro was having round two on Keith.

He started, slightly, when delicate fingers brushed his sweat-stuck bangs from his forehead, and his gazed redirected to Allura, leaning up on one elbow. He wet his lips but hesitated, saying nothing.

"That was good," Allura said softly, her tone so different. "I can see why it drove Keith out of his mind. Shiro has chosen an excellent mate."

Lance scrunched up his nose. "I still don't have a lot of practice," he said. "Comparatively. Pidge has been an alpha way longer than I have."

"Pidge is a different matter entirely," Allura seemed amused. She placed her hand on Lance's chest, flat, right above his heart. "I can tell," she said. "That your heart belongs to Shiro, alone."

He nodded his head, because it was the truth. "I love him. He's my mate." He hesitated again, and then leaned up on his elbow, looking to the origin of the disturbance on the mattress. Keith had his legs over Shiro's shoulders and Shiro was making him scream hoarsely with the depth his dick could reach in that position. It was a good position, Lance had been in it before himself, plenty. "This is fun, though," he said, finally. "Different. It's nice."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Allura sat all the way up, rubbing one shoulder and leaning forward. "Because I think we would both enjoy it if you wanted to play occasionally."

"No strings attached?" Lance said.

"No strings attached," Allura confirmed with a smile. "I love Keith, in much the same way I imagine you love Shiro." She was watching them now too, Keith's back coming off the bed, his spine curving to a perfect arc, and sweat dripping from Shiro's hairline and rolling down his jaw. "Nothing's going to change that."

"Not even his Galra blood?"

"No." There was no hesitation in Allura's voice. She grew silent, and then looked down at Lance. "Sometimes it scares me," she said, quietly. "I was scared when his heat took on Galra characteristics, really scared. If he started to look like one of them...." she trailed off and transferred her attention back to where Keith was being fucked to within an inch of his life. "But when I was away, with Pidge, I realized. It didn't matter to me how Keith looked, or how strange things got, I loved _him._  Not the external packaging, but Keith as a whole person."

Lance smiled. "It's a good look on you," he said, and she looked back at him, surprised. "The love you have for Keith. It makes you glow."

Allura touched her facial markings with one hand and laughed. "They glow with quintessence, and when we are aroused," she said. "Not just sexually stimulated."

"That's not what I meant," Lance said, but Allura smiled at him and leaned over, kissing his forehead gently.

"Thank you for accommodating us," she said. "Would you like me to pleasure you more?"

"Nah," Lance said, and was utterly amazed by it. "I'm wrung dry. Knotting three times in just a few days like this? That's a _lot_  when I'm not dealing with my mate's heat." He scratched his stomach. "But I am enjoying that show, though."

"Glad to hear it," Shiro grunted, and Lance laughed.

"Eavesdropping's rude, Shiro," Lance said.

"Kinda busy here," Shiro replied, the heavy edge to his voice making Lance's stomach tingle, just slightly. Shiro was trying to hold off on his orgasm, for Keith.

"Uh-huh," Lance sat up slowly, and then leaned into Allura, who welcomed the soft pressure of Lance against her side. "So, we're invited to the wedding, right?" he said.

"Only if we're invited to yours," she said, and Lance laughed again, watching with some satisfaction as Keith came completely undone.

 

#

 

"I am going to disinfect every surface on this ship," Hunk announced, wearing gloves.

"Oh, come on now," Lance said, and rolled his eyes at Hunk's exaggerated gesture. "Do you _really_  think that's necessary, Hunk?"

"Yes," Hunk and Pidge said at the same time. They shared a knowing, frazzled look, and Lance shook his head at them both.

"It's not a bad idea," Keith murmured, from where he was seated in the Red Lion's command chair, and Lance pointed at him.

"Hey. Don't _you_  start, too."

"Stow it," Shiro called as he stepped onto the bridge. Lance glared at Keith but didn't push the issue. Shiro paused, looking at Hunk with the rubber kitchen gloves up to his elbows, raised an eyebrow and clearly decided not to ask. "What have you got, Allura?"

"Two Galra freighters," Allura said. "At the edge of the system. They haven't picked us up yet, but we'll be on their scanners in less than twenty doboshes."

Shiro nodded his head, and then turned slightly. "You heard her, team. Let's get to our Lions."

Lance's eyes went to Shiro's, and for a split second he broke that cool command aura and favored Lance with a genuine smile. As he stepped into the express elevator to the Blue Lion's launch bay, Lance blew him a kiss, and Shiro rolled his eyes and shook his head, but didn't stop smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Art by @StickyPeppers](https://twitter.com/StickyPeppers/status/1081633645314564096)


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